Is an Avenue A entrance for the L train in our future?

[Photo from September by EVG reader stickmanpk]

Back in September, EVG reader stickmanpk spotted a crew with a Davey drill taking some soil samples on East 14th Street near Avenue A. At the time, we thought it was something to do with the new development in the works for the former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office across the street.

Later, though, we heard this was for the MTA... to explore a new Avenue A entrance for the L train.

Now, via a reader, here's an MTA press release dated last Thursday that discusses the possibility of a new entrance here.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is seeking federal funding toward approximately $300 million in infrastructure improvements for the Canarsie L Subway Line, which runs from Manhattan to the Canarsie section of Brooklyn through neighborhoods that have seen the largest increases in population in New York City.

Proposed infrastructure improvements include adding three power substations to allow for two additional trains per hour, a 10% increase in service, which could carry 2,200 additional customers per hour. Other elements include installing elevators at the 1 Av and Bedford Av stations to make them fully compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, and adding new street-level entrances at both stations to make it easier for customers to enter or exit the stations and alleviate platform crowding that can delay trains.

“More than 49,000 customers use the 1 Av and Bedford Av stations on an average weekday, and the stations experience overcrowding during peak periods. The area around the Bedford Av station has been rezoned to allow for almost 10,000 new residential units, and ridership is expected to continue to rise,” said New York City Transit President Carmen Bianco. “We have to increase capacity on the Canarsie Line and improve customer flow at stations to meet this increasing demand, and securing federal funding for a project of this magnitude will go a long way toward achieving that goal.”

At the 1 Av station, new fare control areas at Avenue A would double capacity – a 100% increase – up to the street from each platform. The Avenue A entrances would serve 60% of the station’s ridership, thus eliminating a 500-foot walk (from First Avenue to Avenue A) for 31,000 weekday customers entering or exiting the station.

Partial funding for the Canarsie improvements has been included in the MTA’s proposed 2015-2019 Capital Program, per the release.

According to the MTA, the L line first opened as a segment on June 30, 1924, a time when men also wore suspenders without irony.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A Davey Drill and a dream