maxtm

Second Ave Sagas has neat pictures of the reconstruction of my old home station, 96th Street on the 1/2/3. This is the last northbound transfer and first southbound transfer between the 1 local (Broadway) and the 2/3 express (Lenox Ave) and is very heavily trafficked. For a long time, it has been a dark dungeon of a station with numerous cracked/missing tiles and plenty of MTA-brand sludge dripping down the walls.

As part of the rebuild, they are widening the Broadway median and putting a station house in the middle of the street (much like 72nd Street). Passengers will no longer have to go descend below the tracks and then back up to the platforms they need—staircases from the street level will lead directly to the platforms.

They’ll probably finish before 59th Street-Columbus Circle, aka the world’s slowest station renovation. (And the contractors chose a terrible font!)