Flushing Line Improvements

[Chris89292]

In this thread, updates on the ongoing repairs that are happening on the  line, there are several projects that will essentially improve the  through the next upcoming years, everyone is welcomed to comment here if interested, especially if you are a causal  line rider

Finished projects:

1. Flushing Main Street circulation improvements 
2. Grand Central 42nd Street stairs and structural repairs (3rd Avenue exit) 

On Going Projects: 

1. 82nd and 111 Street Renewal
2. Escalator replacements 74th Street Broadway
3. Woodside 61 Street track support structural repairs and repainting
4. Grand Central 42nd Street Circulation improvements
5. ADA Queensboro Plaza

Future upcoming projects

1. 69th 52nd 61st Street Station Renewal (Construction date 2024)
2. 103rd Street Corona Plaza Station renewal (Construction Date 2025)

Edited November 25, 2023 by Chris89292

[Chris89292]

As of today, November 25th 2023

1. New platforms are being installed at 82nd and 111 Street
2. 69th Street has been receiving white painting on several steel structures, and light bulbs near the tracks, which indicates construction could begin soon

New updates will be posted here

[Chris89292]

November 27 2023: The blue barricades have been removed in certain areas at 82nd street, which finally exposes the on going work, for 111 street, a small portion has been removed, this is mainly due to the newly installed platforms, 111 street didn’t receive any new platforms yet, since the contractor is using a different method to install them.

[Chris89292]

December 3 2023: More concrete slabs are being installed at 82nd street, it is half complete for now

[Chris89292]

As of today, Sunday December 10, the 82nd street station has received multiple appearance changes

1. The station’s canopy will be identical to the original IRT style, just like Astoria Blvd station received during renovations in 2019
2. New lighting has been placed on the out side area of the station, they look similar to the ones at Astoria Blvd
3. A new staircase has been built that goes to the mezzanine level, however no changes are done yet at the mezzanine level, except for a new staircase that’s not 100% completed but has been opened to reduce over crowding

For 111 street, not much can be seen, just new concrete platforms, and several more concrete reinforcements are being installed on the area

[Chris89292]

The platform has been 100% completed at 82nd street, with more light installation in the area, for 111 street. They’re still working to reinforce the concrete platform, in the next upcoming weeks, the crew will most likely finish installing the new canopy roof at 82nd street, and probably painting the steel structures with fresh new green coat of paint

[Chris89292]

Today, more work has been done at 82nd street, like previously said, the crews will be painting the steel structures green, which has occurred today, and new yellow platform edges are beginning to see shape, and the second stair from platform/mezzanine has been complete. The crews will most likely focus on the mezzanine in the next upcoming weeks, hopefully the new windscreens are installed this month or next month, for 111 Street I have no updates, I’ll most likely take a trip tomorrow or the following day there

Edited December 18, 2023 by Chris89292

[4 via Mosholu]

Thanks for these updates concerning 82nd Street - Jackson Heights and 111th Street - NY Hall of Science. Hopefully both stops would look good when they reopen for Manhattan bound service out of Main Street - Flushing. I'm hoping that 69th and 52nd Streets would retain their secondary names that they've had for a while (that is, Fisk for 69th and Lincoln for 52nd). 90th Street - Elmhurst Avenue and Willets Point should have been part of the planned renewals; it was a mistake for Grand, Washington, Beebe, and Hoyt Avenues to be dropped from 30th, 36th, 39th Avenues and Astoria Boulevard - in my honest opinion.

[Chris89292]

Quick update at 82nd street, PA (Public address system) speakers are beginning to be installed, I know this is a small change but every little thing counts as progress, I’ll get to visit 111 street station by next week, there will most likely be less updates on the station renewal project, since the MTA is planning to work at the Queensboro plaza station for elevator installation, which is affecting the station renewal projects to possibly March 2024, and later on the crews will work at the flushing bound side.

Edited December 27, 2023 by Chris89292

[Gotham Bus Co.]

On 12/17/2023 at 11:04 PM, 4 via Mosholu said:

Thanks for these updates concerning 82nd Street - Jackson Heights and 111th Street - NY Hall of Science. Hopefully both stops would look good when they reopen for Manhattan bound service out of Main Street - Flushing. I'm hoping that 69th and 52nd Streets would retain their secondary names that they've had for a while (that is, Fisk for 69th and Lincoln for 52nd). 90th Street - Elmhurst Avenue and Willets Point should have been part of the planned renewals; it was a mistake for Grand, Washington, Beebe, and Hoyt Avenues to be dropped from 30th, 36th, 39th Avenues and Astoria Boulevard - in my honest opinion.

 

I'd actually prefer to scrap the alternate names entirely, on the grounds that they are outdated and do not reflect those streets' current actual names. Obviously, lots of people would object to that — and some might even push to scrap the current names in favor of the old names. (I would ask them which specific historic names are accepted by the U.S. Postal Service.)

 

At most, the secondary name should appear in a smaller font with parentheses, to indicate that both names refer to the exact same street. For example...  46 St (Bliss St)

 

(I've heard some conductors override the automated announcements to announce "46th Street and Bliss Street" as if they were separate and distinct streets that happened to intersect there.) 

[7-express]

14 hours ago, Gotham Bus Co. said:

 

I'd actually prefer to scrap the alternate names entirely, on the grounds that they are outdated and do not reflect those streets' current actual names. Obviously, lots of people would object to that — and some might even push to scrap the current names in favor of the old names. (I would ask them which specific historic names are accepted by the U.S. Postal Service.)

 

At most, the secondary name should appear in a smaller font with parentheses, to indicate that both names refer to the exact same street. For example...  46 St (Bliss St)

 

(I've heard some conductors override the automated announcements to announce "46th Street and Bliss Street" as if they were separate and distinct streets that happened to intersect there.) 

The last time they tried dropping the names in the late 90s, local Sunnyside folks opposed and restored the old names.  Demographics of the area have changed a bit in the last 20ish years so an attempt now may not see as much opposition.  Especially since there wasn't a peep when the Astoria stations dropped the alternate old names.

[darkstar8983]

considering how  train projects are falling behind schedule, I think efforts should shift to finishing work at Woodside-61 St first and foremost to restore  Express service between 74 St and Queensboro Plaza.

[Chris89292]

The canopy at 82nd street is starting to see shape, the crews will eventually add more features on the canopy in the next upcoming weeks, for 111 street, it seems to be in the same state as the past few weeks, reinforced concrete platforms are not 100% complete, and the crews haven’t painted the steel structures yet.

[Chris89292]

The roof at 82nd street has been completed, the last few steps are now adding the shell on top, and possibly new windscreens, I feel like the station will be opened by the end of February, as long as faster construction occurs at 111 street where both stations can open at the same time. 

[IAlam]

On 1/14/2024 at 9:49 PM, Chris89292 said:

The roof at 82nd street has been completed, the last few steps are now adding the shell on top, and possibly new windscreens, I feel like the station will be opened by the end of February, as long as faster construction occurs at 111 street where both stations can open at the same time. 

I'm hoping it gets the same treatment as the Astoria stations but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[Chris89292]

21 minutes ago, IAlam said:

I'm hoping it gets the same treatment as the Astoria stations but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

The design of the stations were shown to the board community in Queens, Turns out the stations will use the same windscreens as seen on previous renovated stations like the , but the big differences are that the contractors are fully rehabilitating the stations rather then reusing old platforms or fences.

[Chris89292]

Big news at the 61st-Woodside Station

It looks like the contractors removed half of the Manhattan bound platform, which is a sign that the manhattan platforms will be entirely closed soon, lots of huge improvements are to come, possibly the closure of the 52nd and 69th street Manhattan platforms

[IAlam]

45 minutes ago, Chris89292 said:

The design of the stations were shown to the board community in Queens, Turns out the stations will use the same windscreens as seen on previous renovated stations like the , but the big differences are that the contractors are fully rehabilitating the stations rather then reusing old platforms or fences.

That's disappointing I was hoping ESI would be the new standard going forward. 

[danielhg121]

6 hours ago, Chris89292 said:

Big news at the 61st-Woodside Station

It looks like the contractors removed half of the Manhattan bound platform, which is a sign that the manhattan platforms will be entirely closed soon, lots of huge improvements are to come, possibly the closure of the 52nd and 69th street Manhattan platforms

Sorry. I’m confused, they’re going to remove the entire Manhattan bound 61 St platform? And also close 52nd and 69th Manhattan bound platforms? Or do you mean non-overlapping the 61 St closure. That’s a lot of stops skipped in that case.

EDIT: Never mind looked it up. They’re probably going to replace half at a time. So that section will get new platform replaced followed by switching trains to the center track and ripping out the platform on the other side. I feel bad for Sunnyside folks especially 33rd St or 40th St because they gotta ride all the way back to Woodside just to go to Manhattan.

Edited January 19 by danielhg121

[Chris89292]

9 hours ago, danielhg121 said:

Sorry. I’m confused, they’re going to remove the entire Manhattan bound 61 St platform? And also close 52nd and 69th Manhattan bound platforms? Or do you mean non-overlapping the 61 St closure. That’s a lot of stops skipped in that case.

EDIT: Never mind looked it up. They’re probably going to replace half at a time. So that section will get new platform replaced followed by switching trains to the center track and ripping out the platform on the other side. I feel bad for Sunnyside folks especially 33rd St or 40th St because they gotta ride all the way back to Woodside just to go to Manhattan.

I believe the plans are to build temporary platforms at 46th, 40th and 33rd Street stations when 69th,61st, and 52nd street stations are closed, those were introduced on the community board meeting in July 2022, this plan still confuses me, not sure how it’ll work out

[darkstar8983]

59 minutes ago, Chris89292 said:

I believe the plans are to build temporary platforms at 46th, 40th and 33rd Street stations when 69th,61st, and 52nd street stations are closed, those were introduced on the community board meeting in July 2022, this plan still confuses me, not sure how it’ll work out

guess the  will remain suspended for the next few years, since now either temporary platforms have to be installed at the Sunnyside local stops (unless some of  those stations will be skipped too, to allow Woodside-61 St to be rehabbed, unless they want to do a similar plan to what the MTA did on the Pelham line in the Bronx, where local  trains skipped Parkchester (originated at St Lawrence Av or terminated there), with the  serving Parkchester, and the local stops between Parkchester and Hunts Point Av also closed for rehab. That way the  can remain in service, make regular stops, while the  local skips 69 St, 61 St Woodside, and 52 St on the local track, and keeps the 3-track operation flowing in case of service disruptions. Right now, with the only 2-track setup, all  service would need to be shut down if  there is an incident anywhere on the line, especially worse if thee problem occurs at 74 St-Broadway

[Kingsbridgeviewer382]

1 hour ago, darkstar8983 said:

guess the  will remain suspended for the next few years, since now either temporary platforms have to be installed at the Sunnyside local stops (unless some of  those stations will be skipped too, to allow Woodside-61 St to be rehabbed, unless they want to do a similar plan to what the MTA did on the Pelham line in the Bronx, where local  trains skipped Parkchester (originated at St Lawrence Av or terminated there), with the  serving Parkchester, and the local stops between Parkchester and Hunts Point Av also closed for rehab. That way the  can remain in service, make regular stops, while the  local skips 69 St, 61 St Woodside, and 52 St on the local track, and keeps the 3-track operation flowing in case of service disruptions. Right now, with the only 2-track setup, all  service would need to be shut down if  there is an incident anywhere on the line, especially worse if thee problem occurs at 74 St-Broadway

From the MTA site has,  trains are only making stops in one direction while the other side remains closed. With the Manhattan-bound platforms closed, only the Queens-bound trains are making local stops from 33rd to 69th Streets. Same will happen once the Queens-bound platforms are closed for renovations, with Manhattan-bound trains making local stops. 61st Street will be available as a transfer point. Each side is expected to be closed for half a year (5-6 months). The last update was made in November, so things can or have changed from what’s outlined.

https://new.mta.info/project/flushing-line

[Chris89292]

2 hours ago, Kingsbridgeviewer382 said:

From the MTA site has,  trains are only making stops in one direction while the other side remains closed. With the Manhattan-bound platforms closed, only the Queens-bound trains are making local stops from 33rd to 69th Streets. Same will happen once the Queens-bound platforms are closed for renovations, with Manhattan-bound trains making local stops. 61st Street will be available as a transfer point. Each side is expected to be closed for half a year (5-6 months). The last update was made in November, so things can or have changed from what’s outlined.

https://new.mta.info/project/flushing-line

The plans might have changed, but if the temporary platforms do become a thing, than that means the  will get a temporarily skip stop service to replace the , using the middle track at all times until whenever the project is finished, the same process will take place when the Flushing platforms are closed, it’ll give passengers the opportunity to transfer at 61st street for bypassed stations, the reason why the tracks will be closed off is probably because of structural repairs beneath the tracks at 61st Street, just a speculation I’m not sure

[Kingsbridgeviewer382]

14 minutes ago, Chris89292 said:

The plans might have changed, but if the temporary platforms do become a thing, than that means the  will get a temporarily skip stop service to replace the , using the middle track at all times until whenever the project is finished, the same process will take place when the Flushing platforms are closed, it’ll give passengers the opportunity to transfer at 61st street for bypassed stations, the reason why the tracks will be closed off is probably because of structural repairs beneath the tracks at 61st Street, just a speculation I’m not sure

I can see why the temporary platforms would not be a thing. It would give work trains unimpeded access to the platforms under construction so that work is done faster rather than how things are being done at 82nd and 111th.

[7-express]

So is it true that service will remain in its curtailed state till 2025 or 2026?  I saw that posted on Reddit recently and that would be a tremendous change if it were true compared to what they sold the public last year.