Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike station
Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike Kew Gardens station | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Structure | Underground | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Platforms | 2 island platforms cross-platform interchange | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tracks | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | December 31, 1936[4] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Accessible | ADA-accessible | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opposite- direction transfer | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former/other names | Union Turnpike–Kew Gardens | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Traffic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2023 | 5,016,215[5] 12.8% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rank | 49 out of 423[5] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike station (signed as Union Turnpike–Kew Gardens station on overhead and entrance signs)
The station opened on December 31, 1936 as the new terminal for the Independent Subway System's Queens Boulevard Line. The opening of the station brought significant growth to the adjacent communities of Forest Hills and Kew Gardens, transforming them from quiet residential communities to active population centers. The station became compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 in 2008 with the installation of three elevators and a ramp. Today, the station serves as a major transfer point between the subway and local buses. Bus service to eastern Queens or southern-central Queens is provided by the Q46, and the Q10 and Q37, respectively.
History
Construction and opening
The
One of the proposed stations would have been located at Union Turnpike. A map from June 1925 shows a proposed alternate routing for the Queens Boulevard Line, that would have had the line turn via Kew Gardens Road after the Union Turnpike station instead of continuing via Queens Boulevard. After proceeding via Kew Gardens Road, the line would have turned via Hillside Avenue.[15] If this route were used, then Kew Gardens Road would have had to been widened to accommodate the four track line. This alternate routing would have provided for better access to Richmond Hill.[16] In 1930, in anticipation of growth due to the building of the Queens Boulevard Line, several blocks of land along Queens Boulevard were rezoned so that fifteen-story apartment buildings could be built.[17]
On December 18, 1931, Robert Moses, president of the Long Island State Park Commission, announced that the New York City Board of Transportation halted work on the construction of the station to revise the plan for the underpass under Queens Boulevard to eliminate a bottleneck. Originally, the underpass would have been 44 feet (13 m) wide.[18] On May 7, 1933, it was announced that work on the underpass under Queens Boulevard, which was being done by the Slattery Daino Corporation, would be completed early, and that work would begin the following week on the construction of a temporary roadway over the underpass.[19]
The first section of the line opened on August 19, 1933 from the connection to the Eighth Avenue Line at
In August 1936, tracks were installed all the way to 178th Street, and the stations to Union Turnpike were completed.
On December 15, 1940,
Renovations
As part of the
In July 2006, the MTA began work on an $13.9 million project to make the station compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. As part of the project, three elevators were installed in the station, one between each platform and the eastern mezzanine, and one from that mezzanine to the street. A ramp and cube-glass walls were installed in the passageway connecting the new elevator and the mezzanine. Other improvements that were part of the project included the addition of station agent booths that catered to wheelchair users, as well as new railings, station signs, station payphones, tactile yellow strips along the platforms, and platform fillings to reduce gaps between trains and platforms. The elevator installation was completed in July 2008.[46]
Station layout
Ground | Street level | Exit/entrance |
Mezzanine | Fare control, station agent, MetroCard vending machines Elevator at southeast corner of Union Turnpike and Kew Gardens Road | |
Platform level | Southbound local | ← toward World Trade Center evenings/nights/weekends (75th Avenue) ← toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (75th Avenue) |
Island platform | ||
Southbound express | ← toward World Trade Center weekdays (Forest Hills–71st Avenue) | |
Northbound express | toward Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer weekdays (Jamaica–Van Wyck) → toward Jamaica–179th Street (select rush hour trips) (Parsons Boulevard) → | |
Island platform | ||
Northbound local | toward Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer evenings/nights/weekends (Briarwood) → toward Jamaica–179th Street (two p.m. rush hour trips) (Briarwood) → toward Jamaica–179th Street (Briarwood) → | |
Lower tracks[47] | Yard track | No passenger service |
Yard track | No passenger service |
This underground express station has four tracks and two
Both outer track walls have a Jasmine yellow trim line with a black border and small "UNION TURNPIKE" captions below them in white lettering on black tiles.[51] The tile band is part of a color-coded tile system used throughout the IND.[52] The tile colors were designed to facilitate navigation for travelers going away from Lower Manhattan. As such, a different tile color is used at Parsons Boulevard, the next express station to the east. The yellow tiles used at the Union Turnpike station were also used at Briarwood and Sutphin Boulevard, the local stations between Union Turnpike and Parsons Boulevard.[53][54]
Midnight blue I-beam columns run along both platforms, alternating ones having the standard black station name plate reading "Union T'pke" in white lettering.[7] On many of the columns separating the express tracks are old white signs that read "UNION TPKE" in black lettering, though several have been removed.[55][56]
Mezzanines
This station is unusual in that its
The intersection of Union Turnpike and Queens Boulevard was grade-separated in conjunction with the construction of the subway station. This project cost $250,000.[58][59] The construction of the underpass with a subway station underneath was a massive undertaking. Three levels were required in order for the underpass and the subway station to be built. The upper level that was built was Queens Boulevard, which carries traffic east and west. The second level is an underpass that carries four lanes of Union Turnpike (and now also the Jackie Robinson Parkway) under the Boulevard. The underpass is in between the two mezzanines and it would rest atop the roof of the subway station platform.[60]
Exits
There are three sets of entrances from street level that lead to the station's mezzanine. To the western mezzanine, there are two staircases leading to the north side of Queens Boulevard east of 78th Avenue, adjacent to the Q46 bus stop, and a single staircase leading to the south side of Queens Boulevard. Since the station is centered to the north side of Queens Boulevard, a longer passageway connects the mezzanine to the staircase on the south side of the street. To the eastern mezzanine, there are two staircases leading to 80th Road and Queens Boulevard, one for each side of the boulevard, and a staircase leading to the southeastern corner of Queens Boulevard and Union Turnpike. An elevator to this mezzanine is located adjacent to this staircase. In addition, walkways are located either side of the Union Turnpike underpass, which themselves lead to the mezzanine on their respective side. A staircase at the southeastern corner of Union Turnpike and Queens Boulevard, along with the street elevator, leads to the eastern walkway, which then feeds into the eastern mezzanine.[57][8] A staircase at the northwestern corner of Union Turnpike and Queens Boulevard led to the western walkway, but both have been sealed and converted to employee facilities.[61] Automobiles and buses were formerly allowed to drop off and pick up passengers along those walkways (similar to stations on the IND Concourse Line), but car access is currently blocked.[62][63] The underpass is graded east to allow for natural drainage. The lower level of the station contains the subway tracks, which are located about 20 feet (6.1 m) below the underpass that carries Union Turnpike and the Jackie Robinson Parkway.[60] While the open eastern walkway is blocked from the underpass with a cube-glass wall, the closed western walkway is blocked from the underpass with a chain-link fence.[64][65]
Track layout
A signal and switch tower is located at the north end of the northbound platform.[47][66]
There are two
East of the station there is a flying junction that connects to the
Incidents
On August 28, 1987, a woman was dragged to death after her purse got caught in the doors of an F train at the station, one of 56 dragging incidents that year. This incident was investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. Following this incident, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) created a task force to investigate safety features that would reduce the number of draggings. The NYCTA installing closed-circuit televisions (CCTV) at three stations and platform mirrors at ten stations on a pilot basis so train conductors could better see around platform curves. In addition, the NYCTA experimented with ways to make train doors easier to open and a public relations campaign to increase awareness of the dangers of boarding trains as their doors closed.[68][69][70] Following the pilot, the NYCTA began installing CCTV and mirrors at stations with curves more widely,[71] including at this station.[72]
Ridership
In the 1970s, when the New York City Subway was at an all-time low, following the general trend of a decrease in ridership, the number of passengers using the Union Turnpike station decreased by 2.7 million passengers.[73] In 2019, the station had 7,625,674 boardings, making it the 48th most used station in the 423-station system. This amounted to an average of 25,235 passengers per weekday.[5]
Nearby destinations
The station is near the
References
- ^ "Borough of Queens, New York City". Government of New York City. Archived from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ "Glossary". Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (PDF). Vol. 1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 4, 2003. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
- ^ "Queens Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. August 2022. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ^ a b c d "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- ^ Cox, Jeremiah (June 5, 2008). "A view of an regular entrance from street level down to Union Turnpike". subwaynut.com. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ a b Dooley, John (November 4, 2012). "Post-Sandy layup". nycsubway.org. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "Kew Gardens-Union Turnpike Neighborhood Map" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
- ^ See:
- Duffus, R.L. (September 22, 1929). "Our Great Subway Network Spreads Wider; New Plans of Board of Transportation Involve the Building of More Than One Hundred Miles of Additional Rapid Transit Routes for New York". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
- Board of Transportation of the City of New York Engineering Department, Proposed Additional Rapid Transit Lines And Proposed Vehicular Tunnel, dated August 23, 1929
- Duffus, R.L. (September 22, 1929). "Our Great Subway Network Spreads Wider; New Plans of Board of Transportation Involve the Building of More Than One Hundred Miles of Additional Rapid Transit Routes for New York". The New York Times.
- ^ "Queens Lauded as Best Boro By Chamber Chief". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 23, 1929. p. 40. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
- ProQuest 1114650593.
- ISBN 978-0-7385-9785-0.
- ^
- "City Subway Lines Proposed Queens Line Long Island City to Jamaica Route 108-A, Route 108-B, Route 108-C As Per Route and General Plans June 5, 1925". Flickr. New York City Board of Transportation. June 5, 1925. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- "City Subway Lines Proposed Queens Line Long Island City to Jamaica Route 108-A, Route 108-B, Route 108-C As Per Route and General Plans June 5, 1925". Flickr. New York City Board of Transportation. June 5, 1925. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- "City Subway Lines Proposed Queens Line Long Island City to Jamaica Route 108-A, Route 108-B, Route 108-C As Per Route and General Plans June 5, 1925". Flickr. New York City Board of Transportation. June 5, 1925. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ^ "Delay Tube Station Plans to Correct Underpass Plans: Moses Says 44-Foot Road Under Queens Boulevard Would Mean Bottleneck". New York Daily News. December 18, 1931. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ "Union Turnpike Underpass Work Nearing Completion". New York Daily News. May 8, 1933. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
- The New York Sun. December 13, 1933. p. 47. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
- ^ "Trains Testing Jamaica Link Of City Subway". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 10, 1937. p. 3. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ^ a b Neufeld, Ernest (August 23, 1936). "Men Toil Under Earth to Build Subway" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. p. 2 (Section 2). Retrieved August 12, 2016.
- ^ See:
- "500 More Quit Subway Work On Boulevard: General Strike Order Issued Today; 72 Walk Out in Jamaica" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. April 2, 1935. p. 2. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
- "Aldermen Probe Strike on Subway" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. April 3, 1935. p. 4. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ^ "Notice to Passengers: Extension of Service Beginning at 7 o'clock in the morning of Thursday, December 31, 1936". Flickr. New York City Board of Transportation. 1936. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
- ProQuest 1222259975.
- ^ See:
- Linder, Bernard (December 2008). "Sixth Avenue Subway Service Changes". New York Division Bulletin. 51 (12). Electric Railroaders' Association: 2–4. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
- "New 6th Ave. Tube Will Be Boon to Queens Residents". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 8, 1940. p. 10. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ^ "Express Buses Needed, Says Queens Group". New York Daily News. December 18, 1950. p. B1. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
- ^ Celona, Larry (September 17, 1985). "Board eyes close of subway access". New York Daily News. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
- ^ a b "Subway Station's Cirrus About Art". New York Daily News. August 19, 1988. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ "MTA NYC Transit Opens ADA Elevators at Kew Gardens-Union Turnpike EF in Queens". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ^ OCLC 1056711733.
- ^ "E Subway Timetable, Effective December 4, 2022". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
- ^ "F Subway Timetable, Effective August 28, 2023". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
- ^ a b "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- ^ Cox, Jeremiah (June 5, 2008). "The Union Turnpike text underneath the yellow trim along the platform walls". subwaynut.com. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
- ^ Carlson, Jen (February 18, 2016). "Map: These Color Tiles In The Subway System Used To Mean Something". Gothamist. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
- ^ Gleason, Will (February 18, 2016). "The hidden meaning behind the New York subway's colored tiles". Time Out New York. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
- ^ Panse, Richard (March 31, 2009). "Columns between express tracks with sign". nycsubway.org. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ Dooley, John (November 4, 2012). "Post-Sandy layup". nycsubway.org. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ a b c d "2009 NYCT Booth Closures" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. p. 148. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 5, 2009. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ "Boro Engineers Approve Plan for Underpasses On Queens Boulevard: Queens Topographical Bureau Outlines Details of $830,000 Project: Both Tunnels to Be Constructed Along With New Subway". Queens Daily Star. July 3, 1930. Retrieved April 28, 2016 – via Fulton History.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
- ^ a b "Underpass Work Approved By City; May Start Soon: Union Turnpike to Be Carried Under Queens Boulevard, Plan Provides". Queens Daily Star. June 4, 1930. Retrieved April 28, 2016 – via Fulton History.
- ^ "A view of the western car dropoff/pickup area. A sign outlining the proposed services following the opening of the Archer Avenue Subway can be seen - N trains, which served the Queens Boulevard Line until 1987, would have run to Jamaica Center, along with the G, which served the Queens Boulevard Line until 2010. In addition, a sealed passage to the northwestern of Union Turnpike upper level and Queens Boulevard can be made out by the arched ceiling to the right of the subway sign". indsecondsystem.weebly.com. March 8, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^
- "Route No. 108 Section No. 8 Union Turnpike Undercrossing Undercrossing Sta. 0+40 to Sta. 11+74 Structural Plan Details of Stone Work". Flickr. New York City Board of Transportation. October 5, 1932. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- "Route No. 108 Section No. 8 Union Turnpike Undercrossing Undercrossing Sta. 0+40 to Sta. 11+74 Structural Plan Details of Stone Work". Flickr. New York City Board of Transportation. October 5, 1932. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ Neufeld, Ernest (August 23, 1936). "Men Toil Under Earth to Build Subway". Long Island Daily Press. Retrieved August 12, 2016 – via Fulton History.
- ^ Panse, Richard (January 13, 2008). "Refurbished entrance at Union Tpk". nycsubway.org. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ "View of chain-linked fence in underpass under Queens Boulevard". Google Maps. Google. October 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ "Metal "Brain" for Sub". New York Daily News. November 29, 1936. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ "A Picture History of Kew Gardens, NY – Queens Boulevard Rapid Transit". www.oldkewgardens.com. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ^ Sisk, Richard (February 6, 1988). "TA will try mirrors, TV to cut subway dragging". New York Daily News. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ Sisk, Richard (September 12, 1987). "Rider's hand caught". New York Daily News. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ DeLaFuente, Charles (September 17, 1987). "New train snafus". New York Daily News. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ Wasserman, Joanne (November 19, 1995). "Drag on Safety". New York Daily News. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ Aids for Rail Car Side-Door Observation (PDF). Washington D.C.: The Telephonics Corporation. 1995. pp. 79–80.
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- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
- ^ Gothamist (September 18, 2014). "Visiting The Retired Redbird Subway Train In Queens". gothamist.com. Gothamist. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
- ^ Brown, Kim (February 3, 2005). "The Last Redbird Subway Car Is Installed At Borough Hall". Queens Chronicle. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
- ^ "Say Goodbye To The Queens Tourism Center That's Housed In An Old Subway Car". Gothamist. July 10, 2015. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
- ^ Levy, Nicole (July 14, 2015). "Five Possible Sites for a New Queens Tourism Center". DNAinfo New York. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
- ^ Ngu, Rebecca; Small, Eddie; Kern-Jedrychowska, Ewa (March 25, 2016). "'The Get Down' Filmed a Subway Scene in Queens' Retired Redbird". DNAinfo New York. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
- ^ Yakas, Ben (June 23, 2022). "Don't miss your chance to bid on your very own retired Redbird subway car". Gothamist. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
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External links
- Track map of the area, from nycsubway.org
- 80th Road entrance from Google Maps Street View
- Union Turnpike — Jackie Robinson Parkway entrance from Google Maps Street View
- 78th Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
- Platforms from Google Maps Street View
- Eastern Mezzanine from Google Maps Street View