Program for Action

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1969 plan

Metropolitan Transportation: A Program for Action, also known as simply the Program for Action, the Grand Design, or the New Routes Program,

mass transit and the New York City-area airport system
.

Transport improvements built under the Program for Action were supposed to relieve overcrowding on existing transit modes in the New York City area. However, even though many of the lines and transport connections proposed in the Program for Action were approved,

Archer Avenue lines, were both dramatically truncated from their original lengths, and both lines opened much later than originally projected. In total, only six stations and 15 miles (24 km) of tracks were added under the Program for Action.[2]

Context

57th Street station of the IND Sixth Avenue Line
, which predated the Program for Action

In the 1960s, the New York metropolitan area had 18 million residents across 13,000 square miles (34,000 km2), and the area's population was expanding greatly at the time, especially in the suburbs, to where many city residents relocated.[3] In 1965, the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority (MCTA) was created by the New York State Legislature to operate the bankrupt Long Island Rail Road.[4] Two years later, voters passed a $2.5 billion bond issue that would pay for transport infrastructure in New York State.[5] The MCTA's chairman at the time, William Ronan, said that any extensions of the New York City Subway that were funded using the bond issue would not be complete for at least another 5 years.[6]

In 1968, the MCTA absorbed the

rail link to John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens.[9]

Report publication

On February 29, 1968, the MCTA published a 56-page report for New York Governor

Nelson A. Rockefeller, and in it, proposed several subway and railroad improvements under the name "Metropolitan Transportation, a Program for Action"[3][10][8][11] (alternatively called the "Grand Design"[12]). Executives involved with the proposal included New York baseball executive William Shea.[3] The Program for Action was put forward simultaneously with other development and transportation plans under the administration of Mayor John Lindsay. This included Lindsay's Linear City plan for housing and educational facilities, and the projected construction of several Interstate Highways, many of which were originally proposed by Robert Moses.[13][14][15][16] On March 1, a day after the release of the plans, the MCTA became the MTA.[13][17]

In its rationale for the Program for Action, the MCTA stated, "By 1985, this region will have 25 million people. ... The prospects, based upon the best available projections, are that the population growth will take place principally in the suburbs. New York City is not expected to grow much by 1985. Its dwelling population will redistribute somewhat, however, with the outer areas of the city — Staten Island, Queens, parts of Brooklyn and the Bronx — growing, while the older areas closer to the core remain relatively stable in population." The city was expected to gain 2.5 million jobs in these two decades, and the 8.6-square-mile (22 km2) Manhattan central business district already had 7.8 million employees.[3]

The two-phase Program for Action would cost $2.9 billion (25.4 billion in 2023

57th Street on the IND Sixth Avenue Line, completed in 1967–1968 as part of the Chrystie Street Connection—the precursor project to the Program for Action—were to be tied into lines built under the new program.[3][21][2] A subway map was also drawn up to illustrate planned service patterns upon the program's completion.[22] The new extensions totaled over 50 miles (80 km) of new route miles.[19]
: 244 

MTA Chairman Ronan pushed for the MTA to pursue the Program for Action, saying, "We're making up for 30 years of do-nothingism".[23] In July 1968, the Regional Plan Association released a separate report supporting the planned expansion.[24] Two months later, on September 20, 1968, the New York City Board of Estimate and Mayor John Lindsay approved six of the Transit Authority's eight recommended routes at the cost of $1.3 billion (11.4 billion in 2023[a]).[25]

Phase I

Lexington Avenue–63rd Street
station, one of six ultimately built as part of the Program for Action, prior to its 2010s renovation

Phase I consisted of new

station termini to increase train capacity. It would also comprise the renovation of deteriorating transit routes.[3] Originally, Phase I was to cost $961 million,[3] but costs went up to $1.6 billion. Phase I would have been completed over the span of a decade.[26]

Queens lines

63rd Street–Southeast Queens line

Four parallel railroad tracks on the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line in Rego Park, New York. Two outer trackways can clearly be seen, and run parallel to the four railroad tracks.
The super-express bypass would have used the outermost trackways of the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line (shown). LIRR service would use the four tracks shown here, which would have been the inner tracks of the bypass.

Phase I's flagship project was the 63rd Street–Southeast Queens line, which would stretch from the existing

Laurelton LIRR station in Springfield Gardens.[13][18] The construction of this line was to be split up into three parts. The first part, Route 131–A, would run from Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Manhattan below 63rd Street and the East River to Northern Boulevard. The next part, Route 131–B, the Super–Express Bypass Line, would continue along the LIRR right-of-way to Forest Hills. And finally, Route 131–D, the Southeastern Queens Line, would build a branch of the Queens Boulevard Line at Briarwood through Downtown Jamaica to Springfield Gardens via the LIRR's Atlantic Branch, with a ramp to eliminate the Jamaica Avenue elevated structure in Downtown Jamaica.[25]

The westernmost part of the line entailed aggressive completion of the

Roosevelt Island which turn south towards Midtown and Lower Manhattan; these turnouts may be used for the third and fourth phases of a new Second Avenue Subway project, which started in 2007.[28][29]

Southeast Queens Line
Legend
Atlantic Branch
 Springfield Boulevard
Locust Manor
(no subway service)
Baisley Boulevard
proposed storage tracks
Linden Boulevard
Southeast Queens Line
Main Line
Archer Avenue Lines
Standard Place
Sutphin Boulevard
Jamaica
Queens Boulevard Line
 Jamaica–Van Wyck
Atlantic Branch & Montauk Branch
Jamaica Line
Van Wyck Boulevard
 Kew Gardens
(subway)
75th Avenue
 Forest Hills
(subway)
Superexpress Line
 Kissena Boulevard
Main Street
108th Street
Northeast Queens Line
 Woodhaven Boulevard
Port Washington Branch
 Woodside
61st Street–Woodside (Flushing Line)
Sunnyside Yard
LIRR Main Line
 Northern Boulevard
Queens Boulevard Line
63rd Street Line
Astoria Line
 21st Street–Queensbridge
63rd Street Tunnel
 Roosevelt Island
(Tramway)
63rd Street Tunnel
Second Avenue Subway
LIRR to Transportation Center
 Lexington Avenue–63rd Street
Lexington Avenue Line
Sixth Avenue Line
Broadway Line
Legend
 Current subway trackage
Current LIRR trackage
Unbuilt subway trackage
Unbuilt LIRR trackage

East of Northern Boulevard, where there would be a track junction with the Queens Boulevard Line, the 63rd Street–Southeast Queens line would become a "super-express" bypass of the Queens Boulevard line.

71st Avenue station. The 71st Avenue station would have been converted into a bi-level or tri-level station, with the super express tracks using the lower level(s) built south of the current station, before rejoining the main line Queens Boulevard tracks.[3][13][33][34][35][1]

Later plans called for two tracks and an intermediate stop next to the current

Winfield Junction, where the Main Line merges with the Port Washington Branch, and reorganization of the track layout in the Sunnyside Yards.[34][36][35][1][37] The IND Queens Boulevard Line was to be reverse-signaled as well to further increase capacity.[38]

In order to provide enough capacity for the line, the

GG would have had to be taken off of the Queens Boulevard Line, and a turnback was necessary to provide a new terminal for the line.[25]
When the 63rd Street Connection opened in 2001, the Court Square station was rebuilt to provide a turnback facility for the line, which by then was renamed to G.

The Southeast Queens portion of the line would split from the IND Queens Boulevard Line using pre-existing bellmouths at

Jamaica Center; a LIRR extension would have necessitated the construction of new stations or the conversion of existing facilities along the right-of-way, as well as added additional capacity on which to run trains.[2][27][39]

Long Island Expressway branch and other Queens lines

Another less publicized plan, Route 131-C, which was also separate from the 63rd Street–Southeast Queens Line, was for a new double-tracked subway line, which would diverge from the IND Queens Boulevard Line west of

Main Street station), then south under Kissena and Parsons Boulevards to meet with the LIE at Queens College.[40] A similar line along the corridor had been proposed in the 1929 and 1939 IND Second System plans as an extension of the BMT Broadway Line east of the 60th Street Tunnel, when the LIE was called Nassau Boulevard and later Horace Harding Boulevard prior to the construction of the expressway.[2][41][42]

A connection to the defunct LIRR

IND Second System plans, and were ultimately not incorporated into the main Program For Action plan.[2][40]

Second Avenue Subway lines

BMT 63rd Street Line to the Second Avenue Subway

The

106th, and 125th Streets.[46][47][48] Originally, Upper East Side residents complained about the lack of stations at 72nd and 96th Streets; while the 72nd Street station was later inserted into the SAS's construction plan, the 96th Street station did not get added.[2]

To provide service in the Bronx, the IRT Pelham Line and IRT Dyre Avenue Line, served by Lexington Avenue trains, would be converted to B Division standards and connected to the Second Avenue line. IND Second Avenue Line trains would run east under 138th Street, then along the right-of-way of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor from 138th Street to a point near the Bruckner Expressway and Westchester Avenue as an express bypass of the Pelham line, after which the line would split into a Pelham branch and a Dyre Avenue branch.[49]

The

Hunts Point Avenue one stop south.[3][49]

The Dyre Avenue Branch, meanwhile, would continue north along the former

149th Street–Grand Concourse would also be removed.[3]

Other lines

The BMT Canarsie Line and the Bay Ridge Branch in Brooklyn, New York, after a snowstorm
The BMT Canarsie Line, at left, would have been shifted west to a new structure along the Bay Ridge Branch, at right, under the Program for Action.

In Manhattan, a "cup handle" branch, also known as the Lower East Side Loop or Route 103-B, of the

Eighth Avenue. This branch would have served Alphabet City, a neighborhood that was underserved by public transit.[33] This "Avenue C Cuphandle" was proposed because many of the Alphabet City's residents were working-class poor, and the SAS would not come close enough to serve the residents of Alphabet City.[46][45] This route was approved by the Board of Estimate on March 19, 1970.[51]

In Brooklyn, several extensions were proposed to serve the then-burgeoning areas of

Livonia Yard to Flatlands Avenue; this line would run at ground level.[3]

Also in Brooklyn, the BMT Canarsie Line would gain an eastern branch to

Cross Brooklyn Expressway, which would have been built along both the LIRR branch and Linden Boulevard. The re-alignment would have facilitated both extensions. The current Bushwick Avenue, Broadway Junction and Atlantic Avenue stations would have been consolidated into one station on the Bay Ridge Line, new Sutter Avenue and Livonia Avenue stations would have been built, and the East 105th Street station would be replaced with a station at Rockaway Avenue on the Bay Ridge Line. Additional stations would have been built at Remsen Avenue, Ralph Avenue, Utica Avenue to connect with the Utica Avenue Line, Nostrand Avenue to connect with the Nostrand Avenue Line, Avenue H to connect with the Brighton Line, and McDonald Avenue to connect to the Culver Line before terminating at New Utrecht Avenue.[3][13][14][18][55][57]

The City Planning Commission ultimately did not favor a line via Utica Avenue, deciding that it was unnecessary with the Nostrand Avenue Line extension and the lack of available funds. Instead it suggested that the BMT Canarsie Line extension be built instead.[57]

The MCTA would buy 500 high-speed air-conditioned subway cars to operate on the new lines. New and expanded train depots would be built for the new lines and the enlarged subway fleet. The purchase of an additional 500 subway cars was covered in Phase II.[3]

Non-subway extensions

A Staten Island Railway train composed R44 subway cars on the Staten Island Railway. This image, taken in 1973, shows the cars with a since-removed blue stripe toward the bottom of the car body. The train is arriving at a platform to the left; the photo is taken from another platform to the right and in the foreground. The station is in a right-of-way below street level, and a covered footbridge connecting the two platforms is located to the right.
The Staten Island Railway in 1973, operated with then-new R44 cars

As part of the program, the Staten Island Railway would be fully rehabilitated and would also get new rolling stock through Phases I and II.[3]

A new "Metropolitan Transportation Center" at 48th Street and Third Avenue would be built to provide a terminal for the new LIRR line, feeding into the lower of the two decks in the 63rd Street Tunnel. It would also have a terminal for a proposed new high-speed spur to JFK

Grand Central–42nd Street. Access to Grand Central Terminal would be provided through a new north end access point. Construction costs would be offset by building office space above the transportation center. There would be a mezzanine above the four island platforms and eight tracks, which were split evenly across two levels. (This would later be the East Side Access project.)[3] The estimated cost of the project was $341 million, and the MTA applied for $227 million in Federal funds.[58]

The construction of the terminal was opposed by the residents of the Turtle Bay neighborhood, where it was planned to be located in, as it would have changed the character of their neighborhood.[59] Turtle Bay residents wanted the terminal moved to Grand Central. They also disliked the proposed traffic congestion the new terminal would bring.[58] The MTA contended that its studies had shown that Third Avenue was the only feasible place to put the terminal, and there would have been too great of a concentration of rail lines at Grand Central. It concluded that having the LIRR going to Grand Central would further strain the Lexington Avenue Line. If it were on Third Avenue, passengers would have been more inclined to use the Second Avenue Subway, which was partially under construction at the time.[59] On April 16, 1973, a Federal directive directed New York State to consider expanding and modernizing Grand Central before building the new terminal under Third Avenue.[60]

The LIRR would also be electrified to

Northport Station on the Port Jefferson Branch. The LIRR would get 350 "new high-speed" electric multiple units (EMUs), signal improvements, junction modernizations, high-level platforms, and renovated railcars in addition to the other improvements, because at the time, much of the LIRR was not electrified, nor did its stations have platforms ascending to the height of the train.[3]

The report also called for three

Pennsylvania Station.[3] All of these improvements were to extend into Phase II of the project.[3]

Further away from New York City proper, the MCTA proposed transport hubs at Tarrytown and White Plains in Westchester County; Republic Airport in Suffolk County; and Pearl River, Orangeburg, and Spring Valley in Rockland County. The MCTA also proposed an airport in Westchester.[3]

Phase II

BMT Archer Avenue Line
, built as part of the Program for Action

Phase II would be constructed after Phase I and cost $1.3 billion. Phase II was composed of mostly extensions of existing lines and Phase I-built lines.[3]

Phase II entailed completion of the Second Avenue Subway. The line would go south from 34th Street to the

Central Business District distribution system", installed under 57th, 48th, 42nd, and 33rd Streets to link transit stations, offices, and attractions in the Midtown CBD.[3] These people mover systems would be an alternative to crosstown bus service to transport riders short distances crosstown.[45]

The lower level of the Archer Avenue Subway would be extended parallel to the LIRR Main Line to 188th Street in Hollis, Queens; the

121st Street would be demolished because it was redundant to the new subway.[11][45] The Northeast Queens LIE line would be lengthened to Springfield Boulevard in Bayside.[3][18][30][49]

The segment of the

Gun Hill Road.[3]

New York City railroads would also receive more improvements. One proposed project entailed

Yankees–East 153rd Street station, would be built to interchange with subway service.[3][11] The MCTA would continue to upgrade Penn Central, as well as more airports within Long Island and Dutchess County. Transportation centers would be built in Hicksville, Pine Aire, and Ronkonkoma on Long Island; Brewster in Putnam County; Beacon in Dutchess County; New City and Suffern in Rockland County; and Goshen in Orange County.[3][49]

Progress

1968–1970: Finalization of plans

Lexington Avenue–63rd Street
station undergoing renovation, with the original Program for Action-era designs having been replaced

On September 20, 1968, the New York City Board of Estimate and Mayor John Lindsay approved six of the Transit Authority's eight recommended routes at the cost of $1.3 billion.[25] The Second Avenue Subway from 34th Street to East 180th Street, the 63rd Street–Southeast Queens Line, and the Long Island Expressway Line were all approved. The Board of Estimate requested that the following six additional subway routes be built:

  • A continuation of the Second Avenue Subway south of 34th Street to
    Battery Park.[25]
  • An extension of the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line from Avenue H to Avenue W.[25]
  • A Utica Avenue Line in Brooklyn branching off of the IRT Eastern Parkway Line to Kings Highway.[25]
  • A route along the right-of-way of the Harlem Division of Penn Central from 149th Street to the City line to allow for the demolition of the Third Avenue elevated. This line would either connect to the IRT Lexington Avenue Line or the Second Avenue Subway.[25]
  • A new crosstown link in Manhattan along 48th Street between First Avenue and Twelfth Avenue.[25]
  • The relocation and extension of the BMT Canarsie Line in the median of the proposed Queens Interborough and Cross–Brooklyn expressways to East Flatbush.[25]

On June 3, 1969, the Utica Avenue Line was approved by the Board of Estimate with a slight modification. Instead of ending at Kings Highway, it would end at Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U, with borings underway in 1970.[61][62] Studies for the midtown people mover commenced in November 1969.[63]

1969–1975: Progress

On November 24, 1969, the 63rd Street line commenced construction, with tunnel segments being dug westward from Queens and in both directions from Roosevelt Island. The bi-level tunnel would have the subway on the top level and LIRR trains on the lower level.[64][65][66] The line under Central Park connecting the line to the IND Sixth Avenue Line and the BMT Broadway Line began construction in summer 1971.[45] A groundbreaking ceremony for the Second Avenue Subway was held on October 27, 1972, and construction began shortly thereafter at Second Avenue and 103rd Street.[67][68] Construction costs for the Second Avenue Line were pegged at $1 billion, rising to $1.3 billion a year later.[69] Three tunnels and six shafts were built for the Second Avenue and 63rd Street Lines at a cost of $1.23 billion.[26] The four prefabricated segments of the double-deck, 3,140-foot (960 m)[64] 63rd Street tunnel were connected on October 10, 1972.[70] The sections of the 63rd Street line that connected to the existing Broadway and Sixth Avenue Lines were holed through on October 11, 1973.[71] Construction on the section of the 63rd Street line between 5th Avenue and Park Avenue began in August 1974.[72]

Plans for the single-track Queens Super Express Bypass for the

Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer.[18][2][30][27] A year later, a final design for the Northeast Queens LIE line was published, while other final engineering for the Southeast Queens line was imminent.[2] In the summer of 1972, ground was broken on the Southeast Queens Line along Archer Avenue to 147th Place.[45] Two southeast Brooklyn IRT routes—the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line extension to Avenue W, as well as an IRT Eastern Parkway Line branch under Utica Avenue to Avenue U—were being designed.[2] The MCTA, which was by now renamed the MTA, were rerouting the proposed IRT Pelham Line branch to Co-op City via New Haven Railroad right of way.[2]

In 1973, the MTA published a progress report on the Program for Action. The report said that, overall, "Almost all of the projects are well ahead of the goal recommended five years ago. Despite technical setbacks, legal roadblocks, administrative frustrations and limited funding, progress has been substantial."[45] In total, eight lines were under design and three were undergoing active construction. The MTA was studying the 42nd Street, 48th Street, and 57th Street people movers as well.[2][45] The Second Avenue Subway, 63rd Street Line, Northeast Queens Line, and Super-Express Bypass were considered to be part of a highly prioritized "Group A", which would open between 1980 and 1983. A lower-priority "Group B" comprised the remaining projects.[73] On the downside, these projects had gotten so expensive that, after announcing the $2.5 billion projected cost for the extensions in 1973, the MTA stopped publishing cost estimates.[19]: 243 

R42 subway cars, which were delivered as part of the Program for Action
R42 subway cars, which were delivered as part of the Program for Action

The railcar replacement programs on the MTA's commuter railways also progressed significantly.

high-speed "Cosmopolitan" railcars for Penn Central's New Haven Line,[74] and the next year, it ordered 200 more cars for Penn Central's Hudson and Harlem Lines.[75] The first new cars were delivered in September 1971.[76] The subway and LIRR also saw deliveries of more than 600 new cars apiece.[19]: 240  For the subway, 800 new R40 and R42 subway cars were delivered between 1968 and 1973, and the number of New York City Subway cars in need of replacement had nearly halved, from 1,883 to 956. The first R44 cars had been delivered in 1971 in anticipation for use on the SAS.[45]

The planned extensions and realignment of the Canarsie Line were canceled in 1973,

bond measure that would have paid for five subway extensions, including the LIE line. This was the second time that voters declined a bond issue to finance this extension, with the first being on November 2, 1971 for $2.5 billion.[19]: 238  The defeat set back the construction of subway construction projects, including the Lower East Side Loop, the Utica Avenue Line, the Nostrand Avenue extension, the Jamaica Avenue Line, and the Northeast Queens Line.[19]: 238 [45] The 1973 bond issue, in addition to financing the LIE line, would have also paid for an extension of the IRT Dyre Avenue Line to Co-op City, an extension of the IND Queens Boulevard Line to Hillside Avenue and Springfield Boulevard, a joint LIRR/subway extension from the Atlantic Avenue LIRR terminal to Lower Manhattan, and a branch of the Queens Boulevard Line at 63rd Drive to the Rockaways via the abandoned Rockaway Beach Branch. The double fare was removed on September 1, 1975, although this was not part of the bond issue.[2][77]

The MTA still believed that many other projects would still be built. By November 1974, the MTA projected a 1981 opening date for the

63rd Street Line and for the SAS from 34th Street to 125th Street. In 1983, the Queens Super Express Bypass was to open, and in the same year, the Bronx extension of the SAS and the BMT Jamaica Line reroute to Archer Avenue would open. The MTA thought that the SAS's southern extension to Whitehall Street would open by 1988, and that by 1993, the Utica Avenue, Nostrand Avenue, and LIE subway lines and the LIRR East Side Access would all open.[78] Now that several extensions had been canceled, the plan was to build 40 miles (64 km) of new track miles.[19]: 244  Preliminary planning for the Metropolitan Transportation Center had been completed by January 1975.[79]: 17 (PDF p. 20) [80] Due to continued opposition to the Transportation Center, a "Grand Central Alternative" was published in September 1976. It called for the LIRR to use Grand Central Terminal's lower level instead.[79]: 18 (PDF p. 21)  The MTA's board of directors voted to use Grand Central as the terminal for the proposed LIRR route in 1977.[81]

1975–1989: Fiscal crisis, delays, and plan reduction

While the Program for Action was ongoing, the MTA experienced growing fiscal deficits, which led to gradually increasing fare prices as well as a declining quality of service.

New York City fiscal crisis,[19]: 243  along with the fact that the MTA did not have a consistent funding source (its five-year Capital Programs were implemented in 1982 due to further decline in the subway after 1975–1976[82]). Expected to be completed by the mid-1970s and early 1980s,[27][39] lines for the Program for Action had to be reduced or canceled altogether due to the crisis.[2] Because of the fiscal crisis, the Archer Avenue and 63rd Street lines, the only two complete lines to be built under the program, were truncated and delayed, and there were plans to abandon the expansions altogether.[2][30][83]: 416–417 [84]

The MTA's proposed "40 miles of new subway" in Queens was reduced to 15 miles (24 km) of tracks,

United States government ceased to fund the two remaining projects ten years later, neither of them had been completed.[87] The Archer Avenue Line was opened in 1988 and the 63rd Street Line was also opened one year later; both lines, which had three stations each, were scaled-down versions of their original plans.[2] However, construction on the SAS ceased in 1975.[86] The eastern Jamaica elevated in Queens and the entire Third Avenue elevated in the Bronx were closed by 1985;[30] the Jamaica el was only partially replaced by Archer Avenue service,[88] while no rapid transit facilities were ever built to replace Third Avenue service.[89][90]

63rd Street subway

21st Street–Queensbridge

By the summer of 1976, the

Queens Plaza station, with transfers between mainline Queens Boulevard trains and 63rd Street/super-express trains, to be opened by 1983 or 1984.[91] The Manhattan section of that line was completed that year.[85]

The New York Times reported in May 1978 that the expansion had been reduced to 1⁄5 of its original length, saying, "The line costs $100,000 a foot, will be very short and will serve only a modest number of riders." The article now noted that the Queens super-express had been deferred "to 1988 at the earliest," and the only sections in progress were the 63rd Street Line to Northern Boulevard, and "a small piece along Archer Avenue." The opening date of the 63rd Street subway to Jamaica was projected for 1985.[85] As of early 1979, commuters could still see signs proclaiming 40 miles of new extensions, even though 25 of these miles were no longer being planned.[19]: 244  By 1980, the MTA considered stopping the project and diverting the money to existing subway infrastructure, which was heavily vandalized, severely deteriorating, and devoid of riders. At this point, the 63rd Street subway was to be completed in 1985, with the bypass to be completed later.[92] In 1981, due to lack of money, all bidding on new subway and bus projects for the MTA was suspended, except for the already-built portions of the 63rd Street and Archer Avenue lines. The MTA gave approval for the 63rd Street Line to be completed from Manhattan to Long Island City.[93]

In the spring of 1983, the MTA took a fresh look at the tunnel, considering five possibilities. The proposals ranged from leaving it as-is, with the line's terminus in Long Island City, to the original 1960s plan to connect the 63rd Street Line to the LIRR Main Line, the cost of which was now estimated at $1 billion.

21st Street–Queensbridge, usage estimates for that station in 1984 were 220 passengers per hour unless a connection was made to the rest of the system.[1] The MTA was studying four options for making this line more useful:[94][1]

  1. The Queens Express Bypass: extending the line along the LIRR Main Line to
    Forest Hills–71st Avenue. It would be completed in 1998 and cost $931 million. This was the original plan for this line proposed in the 1968 Program for Action. This was also the only option that the MTA felt that would add passenger and train capacity to the E and F express services. At a proposed station at Northern Boulevard, a transfer concourse to Queens Plaza would have allowed transfers between local, express, and bypass trains.[94][1]
  2. Feeding the line into the
    Court Square instead of operating local on the Queens Boulevard Line.[1] An option similar to this was ultimately chosen, and the F was rerouted through the line to reduce congestion, with G service eliminated north of Court Square (see § Service changes).[32][97][98]
  3. Extending the line through the
    grade crossings, though plans called for new overpasses and access roads to eliminate these crossings.[94][1]
  4. Extending the line to a new subway/LIRR terminal at Thomson Avenue within the Sunnyside Yard, with a walking transfer to the Queens Plaza station, and a transfer to a new LIRR route that would go to
    Hollis and Queens Village stations would be converted from side platform stations to island platform configurations. This $488 million option, to be completed by 1995, was also opposed by people living along the Montauk Branch.[94][1]

The suburban Glendale, Ridgewood and Middle Village communities in central Queens strongly opposed any proposals involving the Montauk Branch, which ran through their neighborhood.[95] The ultimately agreed-on plan was to connect the tunnel to the tracks of the IND Queens Boulevard Line, at a cost of $222 million, and a timetable of at least eight years. It was estimated that the project would attract 16,500 passengers per hour. This was the cheapest plan besides doing nothing. The MTA board approved this plan on December 14, 1984.[99] The section of the line up to Long Island City was projected to open by the end of 1985.[100]

By 1985, the line's construction had cost $800 million, and the line would need another $200 million of fixes in order to make it usable.

21st Street–Queensbridge station in Long Island City.[83]: 355  However, the 63rd Street Subway's eastern Queens extension was no longer being planned,[43][84] although a bellmouth was built at the end of the tunnel, past 21st Street–Queensbridge, as a provision for the express bypass.[1][102][103][104]

None of the options proposed in 1984 were acted upon. The 63rd Street Line was opened in 1989 after more than a decade of delays, its terminal station at 21st Street, rendering the once-grandiosely-planned line a "useless subway to nowhere".

K Sixth Avenue route, were among the routes to be extended along Queens Boulevard or a bypass route via 63rd Street, while the F would have retained its routing via 53rd Street.[1] As part of the connector, a new bellmouth and additional tail tracks were built to facilitate a future line such as the bypass options or construction of a transfer station.[102][106]

63rd Street LIRR line

The east end of the 63rd Street Tunnel in Long Island City, under construction for East Side Access. Also here is a bellmouth for future subway service

Construction on the lower level of the 63rd Street tunnel, which was to be used by LIRR trains from and to the planned Metropolitan Transportation Center, was completed along with the upper subway level.[107] However, the LIRR project had been canceled long before the tunnel was completed. The New York Times noted that the lower level of the 63rd Street tunnel was still under construction by 1976, even though "officials knew that the tunnel would never be used."[92][d] Richard Ravitch, the MTA chairman, said that to stop the work was impossible or so costly as to make it impractical subsequent to the construction of the subway portion."[92] The 8,600 feet (2,600 m)[107] "tunnel to nowhere" was completed "largely for structural reasons — to support the subway tunnel above."[92]

Archer Avenue Subway

Archer Avenue Lines
Legend
Provision for future extension
to southeast Queens
Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer
Archer Avenue–JFK
 Jamaica–Van Wyck
Queens Boulevard Line
Jamaica Line
This diagram:
Archer Avenue Lines

The

1975–1976 fiscal crisis, and in October 1980, officials considered stopping this project as well and diverting the money to mend existing infrastructure. At this point the Archer Avenue project was projected for completion in 1984.[92] In 1981, when all bids for new projects were suspended except for the two Program for Action lines, the MTA gave approval for the Archer Avenue Line to be completed to help improve Jamaica's economy.[93]

The line was also delayed to disagreements over the quality of concrete and the leakage of water into the tunnels, the speed of construction, and the federal

Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer,[30] with provisions existing for the planned extension of the upper level along the LIRR Locust Manor right-of-way.[39][110] The line opened on December 11, 1988, at a cost of nearly five times its original budget, and severely cut back to a length of 2 miles (3 km).[30][111] Since the line had been abridged to Jamaica Center, the "modern terminal" at Springfield Gardens had not been built, severely reducing train capacity on both levels to twelve trains per hour.[30]

Second Avenue Subway

For further information on the Second Avenue Subway, see
History of the Second Avenue Subway.
An abandoned Second Avenue Subway tunnel

The Second Avenue Subway was supposed to be the flagship project of the Program for Action. In a 1964 report, it was given top priority on a list of projects to be completed. Prior attempts to build the line had failed, and the city wished to have a Second Avenue subway line to alleviate overcrowding on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line.[69] Twenty-two blocks of tunnel were ultimately constructed. Seven additional blocks in the East Village were prepared for tunneling operations, but never excavated.[112]

However, the 1975–1976 fiscal crisis, combined with the

BMT 63rd Street Line.[69][113] By 1978, when the New York City Subway was at its lowest point in its existence, State Comptroller Arthur Levitt stated that there were no plans to finish the line.[69][c] Of this failure to complete construction, Gene Russianoff, an advocate for subway riders since 1981, stated: "It's the most famous thing that's never been built in New York City, so everyone is skeptical and rightly so. It's much-promised and never delivered."[115]

JFK Airport rail link

An AirTrain vehicle as seen from Terminal 4
Two-car AirTrain seen from Terminal 4

The LIRR rail link to JFK Airport, as originally planned, would have been built during the Program for Action's second phase. It entailed extending the LIRR through the 63rd Street Tunnel's lower level before tending at Metropolitan Transportation Center" below Third Avenue and 48th Street.

Penn Station instead.[116] The site of the proposed Manhattan terminal was moved to 33rd Street, next to Penn Station, in 1969.[117]

Many Rockaway and central Queens residents wanted the link to run along the disused

Woodhaven Junction stop was added along the link's route in response to requests by residents of the Woodhaven neighborhood.[120]

The $210 million LIRR plan faced much criticism, and one section in central Queens attracted heavy opposition. New York State Senator John J. Santucci, representing the Rockaways, raised concerns that a 2,900-foot (880 m) tunnel for the link, which would connect to the Rockaway Beach Branch, would require razing part of Forest Park, a plan his constituents opposed.[121] Santucci said the link's construction would irreversibly destroy part of the park, destroying a community landmark by "stripping away the resources of the people for the luxury of the few".[122] In October 1974, the president of the Hammel Holland Seaside Civic Association wrote to Mayor Abraham Beame, "It is our earnest plea to you that your decision on this rape of Forest Park be rescinded." The association's president added that although it would be cost-ineffective to create a premium service to JFK Airport, the Rockaway Beach Branch should still be reactivated for local passengers.[123]

In April 1976, Port Authority Chairman Ronan said that the link was "not feasible" due to the economic downturn and a corresponding decrease in air traffic.

Howard Beach–JFK Airport station.[127][128] It ran from 1978 until 1990, transporting passengers to the Howard Beach station, where passengers would ride a shuttle bus to the airport.[129][128][130]

In 1987, the Port Authority brought up a similar proposal to connect a new five-story, $500 million transportation center with all of the airport's terminals, in conjunction with the under-construction

Pan American World Airways.[131]: 2  During the previous year, all three airports had experienced an unusually large increase in passenger counts and were now accommodating one-and-a-half to two times their design capacity.[131]: 1  Architect Henry N. Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners created a design for the terminal and the projected people mover system.[132] However, the Port Authority withdrew its plans for the large transport hub in 1990 after objections from the airlines, which could not pay for the costly renovation.[132][133]

1990–present: Spinoff projects

63rd Street LIRR line

Main article: East Side Access

With the city's economic and budgetary recovery in the 1990s, plans had resurfaced to bring LIRR service to East Midtown. In 1995, officials began the planning process for such a link.[134]: 3  The LIRR was the busiest commuter railroad in the United States, with an average of 269,400 passengers each weekday in 1999.[135]: 4 (PDF p.7)  In 1999, the MTA proposed a $17 billion five-year capital budget. This budget included a $1.6 billion LIRR connection to Grand Central Terminal, called East Side Access, as well as several subway extensions.[136] After the September 11, 2001, attacks, the MTA announced plans to accelerate the timeline for constructing East Side Access.[137] In 2002, Congress passed a bill that allocated $132 million for infrastructure projects in New York State, of which $14.7 million was to go toward funding East Side Access.[138] Approval of a final design for East Side Access was granted in 2002.[134]: 4 

Funding for MTA capital projects such as East Side Access, the Second Avenue Subway, and the 7 Subway Extension were included in the Rebuild and Renew Transportation Bond Act of 2005.[139] Voters ultimately approved the bond issue,[115][140] and East Side Access was instigated in December 2006.[141] The East Side Access project constructed a new LIRR terminal beneath the current Grand Central Terminal, using new tunnels to connect to the 63rd Street tunnel's lower level.[107][142] As of April 2018, the MTA was looking to start passenger service in December 2022, at an estimated cost of $11.1 billion.[143][144][145]: 36 

Second Avenue Subway

Main article: Construction of the Second Avenue Subway
86th Street
on opening day in 2017

The city's economic and budgetary recovery also led to a revival of efforts to complete construction of the Second Avenue Subway.

Hanover Square in the Financial District.[152]

The same 2005 bond that funded East Side Access also provided funding to complete the Second Avenue Subway.

96th Street, on the Upper East Side, opened on January 1, 2017.[114] The planned Phase 2, to East Harlem, will utilize the sections of tunnel north of 96th Street that were built in the 1970s.[154] Under a plan approved in 2016, Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway would receive funding by 2020, and open between 2027 and 2029.[155]

JFK Airport rail link

Main article: AirTrain JFK

By the 1990s, there was demand for a direct link between Midtown Manhattan and JFK Airport.[156]: ES2  In 1990, the MTA proposed a $1.6 billion rail link to LaGuardia and JFK airports, which would be funded jointly by agencies in the federal, state, and city governments.[157] The rail line was to begin in Midtown Manhattan, crossing the East River via the Queensboro Bridge.[158] It would travel to LaGuardia Airport, then make two additional stops before proceeding to JFK.[157] After the Port Authority found that the ridership demand might not justify the cost of the rail link, the MTA downgraded the project's priority.[159]

An AirTrain vehicle in front of the TWA Flight Cetner
An AirTrain in front of the TWA Flight Center

To fund the project, the Port Authority introduced a Passenger Facility Charge (PFC), a $3 tax on every passenger departing from JFK, in 1991.[156]: ES2 [133] The tax would provide $120 million annually.[160] The Port Authority started reviewing blueprints for the JFK rail link in 1992. At the time, it was thought that the link could be partially open within six years.[160] By then, the project's budget had grown to $2.6 billion.[161] The project was to start in 1996, but there were disputes over where to locate the Manhattan terminal, as well as whether the connector should even go into Manhattan.[158] To pay for the project, the Port Authority would charge a one-way ticket price of between $9 and $12.[158]

By February 1995, plans for the link were in jeopardy, as the cost of the planned link had increased to over $3 billion in the previous year alone. Mario Cuomo's successor,

gubernatorial campaign.[158] The direct rail link between LaGuardia/JFK and Manhattan was canceled outright in May 1995 because of its political unpopularity.[162][163][164] The planned JFK Airport connection was downsized to a 7.5-mile (12.1 km) monorail or people mover.[163] In August 1995, the Federal Aviation Administration approved the Port Authority's request to use the already collected PFC money to fund the new monorail plan instead.[165] Ultimately, a light rail with the qualities of a people mover, tentatively called the "JFK Light Rail System", was selected as the most feasible mode of transportation for the new system.[156]
: ES3 

The Port Authority voted to proceed with the scaled-down system in 1996. The system would connect to the LIRR and the Archer Avenue subway at Jamaica station, and to the Rockaway Line at Howard Beach station.[166] Construction of the system began in May 1998.[167] The system, known as the AirTrain JFK, opened on December 17, 2003.[168]

Service changes

Two service changes were inaugurated as a result of the Program for Action. The first went into effect on Sunday, December 11, 1988, when the Archer Avenue Lines opened.[30][169][170] The second occurred on Sunday, October 29, 1989, when the 63rd Street Lines opened.[105]

Most of the changes occurred in conjunction with the opening of the new Archer Avenue Subway. However, some changes were completely coincidental. These changes affected over 3.7 million daily riders.[30][169][170][171] Maps were offered to rush-hour subway riders on December 12, 1988, one day after the initial changes.[169]

By contrast, when the 63rd Street Subway opened, there were fewer service changes. The B and Q trains and the

Court Square during weekdays, and the creation of a new weekday V service to cover the portions of the Queens Boulevard Line that were formerly served by the F and G trains.[32][96][97][98]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  2. ^ This would probably have resulted in one of three service patterns:
    • A Canarsie Line branch service
    • A Canarsie Line shuttle
    • Abandonment of this segment
  3. ^ a b At the time, there was no plan for completion, though the first phase of the line ultimately opened in 2017.[114]
  4. ^ At the time, there was no plan for completion. The East Side Access project, which began in 2007 and was completed in 2023,[108] utilizes this tunnel to provide LIRR service to Grand Central Madison.[107]

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