MTA workers lay out the floor on the downtown IND platform at Columbus Circle. (Photo by Benjamin Kabak.)
It’s hard to find a station in worse shape right now than the Columbus Circle hub. The station — a key transfer point between the West Side IRT and the 8th Ave. and 6th Ave. lines — is in the middle of an extensive renovation that won’t end until 2009 at the earliest.
It’s not a stretch of the imagination to call the current state of the station is a huge disaster. Blue construction walls dot the station’s landscape, and platform sizes have become severely restricted as work crews attend to matters as large as asbestos abatement (West Side IRT) and floor reconstruction (IND platforms). While in April, I wrote an extensive post looking at the overall plans for the station, let’s take a peek, by way of some subtlely-taken Blackberry photos, of the current state of the station.
As I’m currently undergoing physical therapy at an office on 57th St. between Broadway and 8th Ave., I have the pleasure of navigating this station two days a week now. Progress is haphazard; one day, a staircase will be open, and the next day, it will be shut. One day, sections of the platform will be roped off; the next day, they’ll be open.
Mainly, what I’ve seen are crews working on the floors on the IND platforms. For months, the platforms have existed below grade with the trains. Warning signs urged straphangers to watch their steps. Now, the platforms are rising up, at least in the middle, to meet the train doors. Take a look:
On August 8th on the southern most end of the downtown A/B/C/D platforms, crews were hard at work laying out the new tiles. This photo and the one at the top of this post show the work in progress.
A week later, the tiling in that small stretch of space was finished. This small area nearly looks like a usable subway station. Just don’t look or walk around the rest of the Columbus Circle station. But when all is said and done, the station will look like the rendering below. For now, we’ll just have to deal with a few more years of construction.
11 comments
Does that mean we have to endure creeping express trains in the Columbus Circle area for the next two years?
Ben, have you noticed they are raising the platform levels (gradually) at Rockefeller Center (BDFV) as well?
I’ve noticed the higher platform areas are essentially flush with the train floors, presumably fro ADA compliance.
[…] Checking up on the Columbus Circle construction [image] MTA workers lay out the floor on the downtown IND platform at Columbus Circle. (Photo by Benjamin […] […]
[…] Checking up on the Columbus Circle construction [image] MTA workers lay out the floor on the downtown IND platform at Columbus Circle. (Photo by Benjamin […] […]
SAS: This station is the reason I hate Sundays and yet another reason why I hate the MTA so damn much…
[…] Checking up on the Columbus Circle construction [image] MTA workers lay out the floor on the downtown IND platform at Columbus Circle. (Photo by Benjamin […] […]
This is my station and every day I pretty much think I or someone else is going to get pushed onto the tracks. It’s super crowded and in some places the platform is like two feet wide.
The noise is cacophonous! If I ride the D from school it is terrible. I do not think the slowing down of the express trains directly relate to the construction itself, it is the complex interlocking just north of the station. It is similar to the Dekalb Avenue interlocking and other complex interlockings.
Second point, the levelling at Rockafeller is in conjunction with the ADA access project/rehabilitation (if it is an overhaul). I think the downtown platforms are higher because the Central Park West line from 7th Avenue is one level higher than the same line in the uptown direction. But if construction happens like this it might affect the grade of the track.
Talking about different levels, the 34th Street Station on the Broadway Line is a bit uneven… you might want to check for yourself.
Well, my comment was going to be pretty much identical to the first comment, so I guess I won’t write it and I guess I’m related to my mother.
thts cool
[…] Checking up on the Columbus Circle construction Second Ave Posted by root 26 minutes ago (http://bkabak.wpengine.com) Blue construction walls dot the station landscape and platform sizes have become severely restricted as work well my comment was going to be pretty much identical to the first comment top posts wordpress word of the day learning english online says flexx Discuss | Bury | News | Checking up on the Columbus Circle construction Second Ave […]