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Capital Work at 52, 69 Street Stations Anticipated to Start in 2020, 61st Street Station Project Still in Design Phase

69th Street station in Woodside, pictured in 2017 (Photo: Nathaly Pesantez)

Feb. 13, 2019  By Nathaly Pesantez

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has released more details on major capital project works long slated for three 7 line stations in Woodside.

The 52nd, 61st, and 69th Street stations have all been lined up to undergo station renewal projects of varying degrees for several years, with work contracts at last anticipated to be awarded this year and in 2020 that will kick off a new milestone in the process, New York City Transit said last week.

The 52nd Street and 69th Street stations will see overcoat paint projects and structural treatments underway in the first part of 2020, after the MTA awards contracts for both sites by the end of 2019.

52nd Street station in Woodside, pictured in 2017. (Photo: Nathaly Pesantez)

The work at the two stations includes removing the existing paint on the elevated train structure and station interiors and exteriors to repaint them afresh. Structural steel will also be replaced as need be, and a deep cleaning will be done to both sites.

The two-station plan coincides with painting and repair work between the 7 line from 72nd to 104th Streets, a project the MTA awarded a $45 million contract for last year. The Jackson Heights to Corona overhaul is expected to take two years, with work starting last spring.

A similar project is also planned along the 101-year-old line extending to 42nd Street in Sunnyside. The contract for the work was set to be advertised by the end of 2018.

As for the 61 St – Woodside station, which connects to the Long Island Rail Road, a planned overhaul will result in changes like a repaired mezzanine, replaced staircases, a fresh paint job to the station interior and better lighting.

61st Street – Woodside station (Photo: Nathaly Pesantez)

The project is still in its design phase, and a contract is expected to be awarded in spring 2020.

“We are committed to improving service on the entire 7 line as we continue to fine-tune the newly implemented signaling system and moving forward with the renewal of the elevated structure and these 7 line stations,” an MTA spokesperson said.

With many months still to go before contracts are awarded, service changes have yet to be announced along the line as a result of the projects. Both the LIRR and NYCT, however, will coordinate to limit customer impact once the project at the 61st Street station starts.

Design phases for work at the three stations began in 2016, according to the MTA’s capital dashboard tracker.

The three Woodside stations have been a focal point for community leaders and transit activists over the years who have criticized the deteriorating conditions at the stops and the need for upgrades.

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12 Comments

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JH resident

Slightly off topic, but I wish the MTA would invest capital in converting the 74th Street stop to an Express stop…it would alleviate a lot of congestion and overcrowding on the local line.

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Queens Streets for All

NO CLEAR CURBS REPEAT PLEASE
We have reached out and look forward to working with the MTA on impacts of this work on parking which we and all small businesses depend on. NO WORK should occur until the parking concerns of our coalition are addresses. Not one space should be impeded for any amount of time. No work is so necessary that we can’t come up with an agreeable solution for everyone involved. We need a place to park our cars. Whose streets are these? Our streets! The elevated subway just passes through. We live here and matter more than the minority of people that take transit through our neighborhood. Most, almost all, of us drive and we need the parking.

GOVT FOR WHO?
We are confused and concerned because we have yet to hear back from MTA and have reached out to Congressman Crowley’s office for help on this but the email has bounced back. What is going on here? I thought government worked for us and not the other way around?

REMOVE ROAD DIET NOW
Our roads were skinny to begin with. Now they are bursting at the seams with traffic all day long and are unsafer and we spend up to four hours looking for parking. How is that good for the environment? If the DOT wants us to give up our cars they should just be honest and say that. Unfortunately they don’t say much of anything at all because they’re too busy lying about statistics. We live here, we know what is right, remove this road diet NOW!

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Woodside Al

Perhaps there’s a reason why emails to Congressman Crowley’s office would be bouncing back. Something that’s been in the news a little bit over the past several months…

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Gerald

Can you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE fix the escalator at 61st Woodside? It’s out of service so much. Wish you could also add an extra staircase on the south side of Roosevelt avenue since the only staircases are on the north side.

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Sunnysideposthatesme

so once again the 7 train wont be useable on the weekends. This train is straight up garbage and I laugh at all the suckers that were swindled with ideas that the train is “So close to the city” do some research hipsters…

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HMB44

Are you under the impression that other trains are actually good? The MTA is universally garbage. Private it if you have even a tiny bit of guts or sincerity.

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Anonymous

This. These stations need more than just a paint job. The N stations that were replaced were in much better condition than these 7 train stations. Considering the high utilization of the 7, it is flat out neglected by the MTA. While they spend 20 years trying to put an already outdated signal system in place, the tracks and stations themselves are on the brink of structural failure.

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