FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 19, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
MTA will fi nally add elevators to Astoria Blvd. station in 2019
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @angelamatua
Astoria residents and elected offi cials
have grown frustrated with the amount
of train station closures in their neighborhood
due to MTA construction. But
aft er decades of calling for elevators at
the Astoria Boulevard station, the agency
may be closer to fulfi lling Astoria’s
wishes.
Th e MTA presented their plan to install
four elevators at the Astoria Boulevard
N/W station at a Community Board 1
Transportation Committee meeting on
April 11, according to District Manager
Florence Koulouris.
Currently, the agency is making repairs
to two station — 30th Avenue and 36th
Avenue — which has left the stations
closed and local businesses struggling
because of a decrease in foot traffi c. In
July, the MTA will begin similar work on
the Broadway and 39th Avenue stations.
In February, elected offi cials and Astoria
residents rallied in front of the Ditmars
Boulevard train station, which will undergo
a 14-month, $22 million renovation
starting this month. Th ey argued that
most of the repairs made at these stations
were cosmetic and called on the MTA to
install necessary upgrades like elevators.
“I’ve been in offi ce for well over a
decade,” said state Senator Michael
Gianaris at the rally. “I’ve been hearing
about the Astoria Boulevard elevator ever
since. It’s funny that we’ve been hearing
promises about that elevator for years and
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
The MTA will add four elevators to the Astoria Boulevard station.
years and years and yet they are doing this
while they’re still promising that.”
According to Koulouris, the MTA has
been speaking about adding elevators to
the Astoria Boulevard station since the
late 1970s. She added that the dates provided
by the MTA are not “set in stone.”
Th e MTA announced that it will not
start work on the elevators until the four
projects at the 30th Avenue, 36th Avenue,
39th Avenue and Broadway stations are
complete. While two of the projects
are wrapping up, the 39th Avenue and
Broadway station upgrades will be fi nished
in January 2019.
On April 17, the MTA announced that it
would construct two street-to-mezzanine
elevators and two mezzanine-to-platform
elevators. Th e
installation of the
street elevators will
require that the
agency demolish
and reconstruct the
entire station mezzanine,
which will also
be raised to reduce
strikes by trucks
driving underneath.
According to
Koulouris, the MTA
said that the project
will go out to
bid on or around
March 15, 2019, and
will be awarded at
or around June 29,
2019. Th e construction
will take approximately 29 months
and the station will be partially closed
for the majority of this time but will be
fully closed for nine months starting in
February 2019, the MTA announced.
“I’ve made accessibility one of my top
priorities since the moment I arrived at
New York City Transit and am thrilled
that we’re bringing elevators to this critical
intermodal hub that connects to
LaGuardia Airport,” MTA President
Andy Byford said. “We are continuing
to spend billions of dollars on accessibility
throughout the entire subway system.
Th e systemwide study that’s underway
now, combined with future funding
in the MTA capital plan, will provide the
path forward to even more accessibility
improvements.”
Th e project will be “substantially” completed
by December 2020 but adding elevators
will be only part of a larger project.
Th e MTA will also raise the platform,
close the gap between the platform, widen
the mezzanine and replace the stairs, roof,
lampposts, signs and gates.
Th e MTA also announced at the
meeting that they will work with the
Department of Transportation on traffi
c modifi cations during the construction
since the station is near the Grand
Central Parkway and Triborough Bridge,
Koulouris said.
Councilman Costa Constantinides,
who attended the February rally, called
the announcement “bittersweet” and said
the accessibility updates “are a long time
coming.”
“Our community has spent years
advocating for elevators at the station
to improve accessibility for people with
disabilities, parents with strollers, and
seniors,” he said. “However, our community’s
experience with the MTA’s 30th
Avenue Station closure has left us with
many burdens, concerns and unanswered
questions. While closing the station will
bring some negative eff ects to our neighborhood
during construction including
longer commute times and more
crowded stations, the added accessibility
features will bring essential long-term
infrastructure improvements to the station.
I will continue to hold the authority
accountable on this and other similar
projects.”
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