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| 10-29-1989: The 'Subway to Nowhere' Now Goes Somewhere (1321494) | |||
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10-29-1989: The 'Subway to Nowhere' Now Goes Somewhere |
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Posted by Gold_12th on Wed Oct 29 20:40:34 2014 Twenty years after its conception, a new subway-line extension - dubbed the subway to nowhere by its critics -made a ceremonial maiden run yesterday, rumbling under the East River from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island and into Queens. Regular service was to start today on the $868 million line, the first subway to the island. The 3.2-mile extension, which does not connect with any lines in Queens, links the B line on the East Side of Manhattan to Long Island City. The three new stations are at 63d Street at Lexington Avenue, Roosevelt Island and 21st Street at 41st Avenue in Queens. About 13,500 commuters a day are expected to ride the extension, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Transit Authority, Caren Gardner, said. Critics have contended that the project will do little to alleviate commuter congestion. 'Long, Troubled History' ''This has been a planning disaster from day one,'' said Representative Bill Green of Manhattan, who was at a first-day ceremony on Roosevelt Island. ''It's been an enormous waste of money.'' The new line ends abruptly 1,500 feet short of the E, F, G and R lines at Queens Plaza which are used daily by half a million commuters. The M.T.A. hopes to build a connection with these lines, but it may take several years, Ms. Gardner said. David Gunn, president of the M.T.A., said, ''We are proud of the fact that we have taken a project with a long and troubled history and completed it within the schedule and budget we developed several years ago.'' Q trains will serve the new stops on weekdays and B trains on weekends. The express to Kennedy International Airport will add the Lexington Avenue and Long Island City stops to its service. Service between Manhattan and Queens will operate 24 hours a day. Survivor of Major Plan The extension was originally part of a $1.3 billion proposal to build 11 subway lines as well as a lower-level tunnel for the Long Island Railroad. Work under the plan was hampered by the city's fiscal crisis in the mid-1970's and delayed by structural problems and neighborhood protests. Among the other proposed additions, only the Archer Avenue line has been completed. The other plans were abandoned. The L.I.R.R. tunnel was dug, but its use has been postponed indefinitely, Ms. Gardner said. The new subway threatens the survival of the tram that has linked Roosevelt Island with Manhattan since 1976, said Rosina Abramson, the president of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, which manages the tram service. There have been no plans to change or discontinue the tram service, which carries 7,000 riders a day, she said. But a sharp decrease in ridership is projected, and the tram's operational deficit next year may be as high as $1 million, Ms. Abramson said. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/29/nyregion/the-subway-to-nowhere-now-goes-somewhere.html |
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