Underneath the streets of Downtown Brooklyn, MTA contractors are busy digging out a free transfer between the A/C/F station at Jay St. and the R stop at Lawrence St. The two stations are literally on top of each other with the BMT station directly beneath the IND stop. As part of the 2005-2009 capital plan, the MTA opted to connect these two popular lines, and just this week, the authority posted a video update of the project.
This new connector is good news for the people of Kings County. It’ll provide Downtown Brooklyn with a true interchange between the IND and BMT lines, and it furthers the MTA’s goal of improving connections and building transfers that just make sense. The renovations at Bleecker St. that will connect the uptown 6 platform with the B/D/F/M station and the new South Ferry station that connects the IRT terminal to the BMT stop at Whitehall St. spring to mind as well. The authority should look into other transfers, including one between the L and 3 near Junius St. and Livonia Ave. and the G and J/Z trains at Broadway and either Lorimer or Hewes Sts. MTA representatives say however that those transfers aren’t currently under consideration.
The $108 million project includes a complete rehab of the Jay St. stop, a new free transfer and an ADA-compliant station replete with elevators. In the video, engineers talk about the challenges they faced in digging directly beneath Willoughby St. and the final plans for the station. Watch it out below.
23 comments
There are so many places new useful transfers could be built in addition to the stops in Brooklyn that Ben recommended:
– Bowery J/Z to Grand St B/D (about a block apart, why didn’t they build this when they built the Grand St stop? it would also reduce pressure on the F at Delancey)
– Park Place 2/3 to City Hall R (almost directly on top of each other)
– 57th St N/Q/R to 7th Ave B/D/E (1.5 blocks apart, makes UWS & 8th Ave to Queens more direct, and the path would be half as long as the passage at Times Sq)
– Prince St R to Bway-Lafayette B/D/F/M (semi-redundant with Herald Sq, Jay-Lawrence and 6 connection underway, but not totally, and they wouldn’t need to move any existing platforms. what’s wrong with a little redundancy anyway?)
– Jay St-Borough Hall A/C/F to Court St-Borough Hall 2/3/4/5 (this would be a couple blocks long, but would be the only way to transfer from the F to the 4/5)
– Jay St-Borough Hall A/C/F to Hoyt St 2/3 (closest any F and 2/3 stations get to each other)
– West 4th A/B/C/D/E/F/M to 9th St PATH (would be only way to transfer from PATH to A/C/E)
– 45th Rd-Court House Sq 7 to 23rd St-Ely Ave E/M (why travel out of your way along the G train mezzanine to transfer when those two stations already line up at 23rd St and 44th Dr?)
The video said 36,000 people would use the Jay St-Lawrence St transfer daily. I don’t know if any of the above combinations could draw that many people, but they would definitely make a number of trips faster and more convenient, especially late at night when double transfers are very undesirable.
“Bowery J/Z to Grand St B/D (about a block apart, why didn’t they build this when they built the Grand St stop? it would also reduce pressure on the F at Delancey)”
Doable since those two station are about two blocks apart. I could see such connection being beneficial to those living in Willamsburg and other areas that serves the J/M/Z lines. If such transfer existed today, the Orange M would be redundant. As for taking pressure off the F line, you are 100% correct on that.
“Park Place 2/3 to City Hall R (almost directly on top of each other)”
Somewhat redundant espectially with the Fulton Street Transit Center/WTC Transit Hub under construction at the moment.
“57th St N/Q/R to 7th Ave B/D/E (1.5 blocks apart, makes UWS & 8th Ave to Queens more direct, and the path would be half as long as the passage at Times Sq)”
This would ease the need to transfer at 34th St. I could see a ton of people using this connection if it did exist today.
“Prince St R to Bway-Lafayette B/D/F/M (semi-redundant with Herald Sq, Jay-Lawrence and 6 connection underway, but not totally, and they wouldn’t need to move any existing platforms. what’s wrong with a little redundancy anyway?)”
Redundant? Not so much. This connection will ease the need to transfer at 34th St. Would have been useful in the event of another long-term Manhattan Bridge closure.
“Jay St-Borough Hall A/C/F to Court St-Borough Hall 2/3/4/5 (this would be a couple blocks long, but would be the only way to transfer from the F to the 4/5)”
If the demand was there, then yeah it would be worth it.
“Jay St-Borough Hall A/C/F to Hoyt St 2/3 (closest any F and 2/3 stations get to each other)”
If the demand was there, then yeah it would be worth it.
“West 4th A/B/C/D/E/F/M to 9th St PATH (would be only way to transfer from PATH to A/C/E)”
If the demand was there, then yeah it would be worth it. The 9th Street PATH station is such a low use station.
“45th Rd-Court House Sq 7 to 23rd St-Ely Ave E/M (why travel out of your way along the G train mezzanine to transfer when those two stations already line up at 23rd St and 44th Dr?)”
There are already building that transfer. The walk from where the transfer passageway is at isn’t too far off from 23rd-Ely. The reason why there building such a connection is to provide G riders with an alternate way to get to Manhattan and to possible ease the amount of transfering at 74th Street/Roosevelt Ave station.
Don’t forget that the demand for PATH/subway transfers isn’t there because the fares are not integrated.
I believe that what he meant was the idea of building a pedestrian passageway from the north end of the West 4th St. station near 8th St. to the 9th St. PATH station.
Such non-free but convenient transfers already exist at
the other three PATH stations along Sixth Ave.
Yup, that’s what I meant. I’m sure some PATH users would find the A/C/E useful, and some A/C/E riders would probably agree. It’s also a more logical transfer spot than the transfers at 14th and 23rd. West 4th is the hub and a more convenient transfer location if you are coming from/going to Brooklyn. I’d just wonder if it would even be possible to snake in a pedestrian passage from the middle mezzanine over to the 9th St station on Christopher St.
I don’t think it is. When PATH was built, there were bellmouths left at the “north” end of the 9th street station to head down 9th street towards astor place. I believe that’s part of the reason the entrance snakes the way it does.
Or you could transfer to the PATH from Broadway-Nassau or Chambers Street.
but if you are trying to get from uptown manhattan to hoboken, for example.
Better yet – why not just combine the path with the subway? No precedent for a subway that leaves the city? They’ve been talking for years about extending the #7 line to the Meadowlands.
That transfer would also allow the MTA to kill the “out of system transfer” or. as it should really be termed, the “free entry.”
After watching that video, I could see how this will benefit A/C/F/R riders in a big way. This is one transfer connection that is long overdue. For A & C riders in Brooklyn, this connection can provide them a better connection to get to South Ferry and the SI Ferry Terminal without having to take the train to Broadway-Nassau. I can expect a drop in transferees at Bradway-Nassau when this connection is fully operational.
It is nice, but wouldn’t it have been easier to make a free MetroCard transfer like at Lexington Ave / 63 Street
Note that at 3:31, the animation shows a sign for the (brown) M and the N/R/W, which not only makes the sign outdated, but also incorrect even when it was made.
Still, it’s a great video. I dig behind-the-scenes vids.
If I had all the money in the world I’d fund the construction of a new 2/3 station at 104th St. & CPW, and build a free transfer to the B/C @ 103rd St. Who’s with me?
That would mostly benefit people from Upper Manhattan going to the lower and mid-central Bronx. Because of the backtracking involved, wouldn’t it be easier to take the subway and then a crosstown bus (and another subway transfer if needed)? And isn’t it a viable option to use the 1 to the 2/3 instead?
it would be the easiest way to transfer from B/C to 2/3. 2/3 doesn’t stop at columbus circle.
Yes, a free transfer at the north end of the 103rd St station under Central Park West. It would connect the B/C IND line with the 2/3 IRT line, without forcing riders from uptown to go all the way to 59th St. and change trains when they want to go uptown again on the other line.
Not easy or cheap, I guess, to build that new deep station on the IRT. We’ve been warned of the cost of adding infill stations on old lines.
They redid the entrance at Jay Street and Fulton Street and the new sign lists the station as Jay Street-MetroTech Station. Are they completely renaming both stations to this name now?
I’m going to sound a trifle curmudgeonly, here. Transfers aren’t a bad thing, but in this age of Unlimited Metrocards, one can easily get out at let’s say Lawrence Street, and go back into the system at Jay St. Borough Hall. Ditto for getting on the uptown #6 from the F train.
I would have liked to seen money first go to putting in the shell for the 10th Avenue stop on the #7, or more modestly, an exit on the L, at the eastern end of the First Avenue station.
Peter
inklake
I agree in the age of unlimited metrocards expensive transfer projects are not as needed. The fare policy should be to get as many people as they can on unlimited cards and raise the base fare.
Re: Lawrence/Jay, when I was with MTA I was instrumental in getting it into the program over 20 years ago. So things do happen. Also back in the 1970s MTA had an intermodal planning committe and I prepared a list of free transfer connections that MTA should implement. The easy ones have been done. Just about every one listed by your bloggers was on that list. The escalator at Court Square (7/G) is largely being paid for by the developer of the Citbank complex, not MTA. I strongely advocate the L/J and L/3 transfers. One almost made it into the next capital program before the sky fell in. We also worked out details of a W 4th St/9th St PATH connection with the PA.
Thanks for your good work on this project.
[…] station complex will be called Jay St.-MetroTech. For a video on the new transfer point, check out this July post. Now if only Transit would connect the L and 3 trains at Junius and Livonia. Share Tweet […]