The Eastern Parkway Line to Atlantic Avenue is part of Contract 2 of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company's plan to construct an extension of the original subway, Contract 1. Contract 2 extended the original line from City Hall in Manhattan to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. The Board of Rapid Transit Commissioners approved the route on September 27, 1900,[7] and the contract was signed on September 11, 1902. Construction commenced on Contract 2 on March 4, 1903.[8] In order to cross the East River, a tunnel had to be constructed. That tunnel, the Joralemon Street Tunnel, was the first underwater subway tunnel connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn. It opened on January 9, 1908, extending the subway from Bowling Green to Borough Hall.[9][10][11]Clifford Milburn Holland served as the assistant engineer during the construction of the tunnel.[12] It was added to theU.S. National Register of Historic Places on February 9, 2006.[13]
On April 28, 1908, the IRT formally applied with theNew York Public Service Commission for permission to open the final section of the Contract 2 line fromBorough Hall toAtlantic Avenue near theFlatbush Avenue LIRR station. The application was approved, and the IRT extension opened on May 1, 1908.[14]: 194 [8] With the opening of the IRT to Brooklyn on May 1, 1908, ridership fell off on the BRT's elevated and trolley lines over the Brooklyn Bridge with Brooklyn riders choosing to use the new subway.[15] During the construction of the Brooklyn extension, provisions were made for future subway extensions in Brooklyn by the construction of four tracks between Borough Hall and Atlantic Avenue, and the construction of bellmouths at Fulton Street and Flatbush Avenue, at Flatbush Avenue and Lafayette Avenue, and at Atlantic Avenue and Fourth Avenue.[16]
On May 26, 1908, the IRT applied with the Public Service Commission to build a route connecting with these provisions along Flatbush Avenue from Fulton Street along the Manhattan Bridge, connecting with theIRT Third Avenue Line at Canal Street and Bowery.[17]
In 1913, New York City, theBrooklyn Rapid Transit Company, and theInterborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) reached an agreement, known as theDual Contracts, to drastically expand subway service across New York City.[18] As part of Contract 3 of the agreement, between New York City and the IRT, theoriginal subway opened by the IRT in 1904 toCity Hall,[19] and extended toAtlantic Avenue in 1908,[20] was to be extended eastward into Brooklyn.[21] The line was to be extended alongFlatbush Avenue andEastern Parkway to Buffalo Street as a four-track subway line, and then along East 98th Street and Livonia Avenue to New Lots Avenue as an elevated two-track line, with provisions for the addition of a third track. In addition, a two-track branch line along Nostrand Avenue branching off east of theFranklin Avenue station was to be constructed.[22] The underground portion of the line became known as the Eastern Parkway Line, or Route 12, while the elevated portion became known as the New Lots Line.[23]
The IRT Eastern Parkway Line was built as part of Route 12 from 1915 to 1918, from the section east of the Atlantic Avenue station to Utica Avenue and down the Nostrand Avenue Subway to Flatbush Avenue. Groundbreaking for the IRT extension took place on May 23, 1914,[24][25] but actual work did not start for several weeks.[26] The groundbreaking was section 1A, stretching between Grand Army Plaza and St. Mark's Avenue. The Cranford Company received a construction contract for this section in March 1914 after making a low bid of about $2.2 million,[25][27] The section between Atlantic Avenue and St. Mark's Avenue was placed for bidding in June 1914;[28][29] the Transit Company made a low bid of $2.195 million for this contract.[30]
Before construction on Eastern Parkway even began, Brooklyn park commissionerRaymond Ingersoll recommended that the plans be modified to avoid damaging trees on Eastern Parkway.[31][32] As a result, plans for the line were changed in October 1914.[33] Under the revised plan, the four-track tunnel under Eastern Parkway was to be double-decked, except at theFranklin Avenue station, where all tracks would be on the same level.[34] In April 1915, nineteen companies submitted bids to construct the section of line betweenGrand Army Plaza andNostrand Avenue. The low bidder for this contract was the Inter-Continental Company. which bid $2.7 million;[35][36] the contract was confirmed that May.[37] The next contract was for the section between Nostrand Avenue and Buffalo Avenue,[38] Rodgers & Hagerty Inc. submitted a $2.17 low bid for the Nostrand–Buffalo Avenues contract in July 1915.[39] although New York City's acting mayor and theNew York City Board of Estimate initially refused to approve the contract.[40][41]
The tunnel between Grand Army Plaza and Nostrand Avenue was built using thecut-and-cover method, with two steam shovels excavating an estimated 600,000 cubic yards (460,000 m3).[42] Dirt from the excavation of the tunnel was used to infill the oldBrighton Beach Race Course.[43] MayorJohn Francis Hylan inspected the line on August 20, 1920, prior to its official opening.[44][45] At 12:40 a.m. on August 23, 1920,[46][47] the Eastern Parkway Line was extended from Atlantic Avenue toUtica Avenue.[46][48] The new lines would be served by trains from Seventh Avenue.[47] Trains did not make stops between Atlantic Avenue and Franklin Avenue because of the failure of the contractor to perform work as scheduled on the local stations.[49] On October 10, 1920, the three stations that had not opened with the rest of the line, atBergen Street,Grand Army Plaza andEastern Parkway–Brooklyn Museum, were opened.[50][51]
In addition, as part of Contract 3, the IRT agreed to build a branch of the original subway line south down Seventh Avenue, Varick Street, and West Broadway to serve the West Side of Manhattan.[52][53][54] South of Chambers Street, there were to be two branches constructed. One of these branches would turn eastward under Park Place and Beekman Street and down William Street and Old Slip. After going through Lower Manhattan, the second branch would go through a tunnel under the East River before running under Clark and Fulton Streets until a junction at Borough Hall with the existing Contract 2 IRT Brooklyn Line,[55][56] using a provision meant for a line over the Manhattan Bridge.[57][58] Construction of the Clark Street Tunnel began on October 12, 1914, using atunneling shield in conjunction with compressed air.[59][60] The north tube was holed through on November 28, 1916.[61] At 5,900 feet long, with about 3,100 feet underwater, the tunnel was finally opened for revenue service on April 15, 1919.[62] The opening of the tunnel allowed access to Brooklyn via the IRT from both the East and West Sides of Manhattan.[63]
On February 2, 1948, the platform extensions atHoyt Street opened, allowing 10-car express trains to board as opposed to only 5-car trains.[64]
In August 1961, the chairman of theNew York City Transit Authority, Charles Patterson, announced a $2.5 million project that would get rid of a trouble spot on the line betweenNevins Street andAtlantic Avenue that slows service and backs up the IRT Division. The project was projected to take two years long and it would have involved the reconfiguration of the track layout in this area. The platforms at the two stations would be extended to accommodate 10-car trains, as opposed to the eight and nine-car trains that they could platform at the time. The tracks between the two stations would be straightened, removing some of the bend in the tracks, but not removing it entirely. The tracks were to be straightened enough to allow for the running time between the two stations to be cut by one to two minutes.[65]
The MTA announced in October 2020 that it would renovate the Eastern Parkway Line tunnels between Borough Hall and Franklin Avenue. The project was expected to take 33 months.[67][68] The renovations were announced following two incidents in 2018, when ceilings at the Borough Hall and Atlantic Avenue stations partially collapsed, injuring passengers.[67]
The IRT Eastern Parkway Line enters Brooklyn through the Joralemon Street Tunnel from theIRT Lexington Avenue Line and continues to run under the street that the tunnel was named after, until afterBorough Hall. East of the Borough Hall station, at Adams Street and Boerum Plaza, theIRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line merges with the line. The Eastern Parkway Line continues as a four-track line underFulton Street, then turns southeast underFlatbush Avenue, which also has theBMT Brighton Line beneath it. The first station along this segment isNevins Street, which contains a never used lower level, and then joinsAtlantic Avenue–Barclays Center, the end of the oldest section of the line. BetweenBergen Street andGrand Army Plaza, the line splits around the BMT Brighton Line.[2]
East of Grand Army Plaza, the line finally moves under its namesake, the first station serving theBrooklyn Museum. The next station isa complex near theBrooklyn Botanic Garden that serves the above groundBMT Franklin Avenue Line and the beginning of theIRT Nostrand Avenue Line, which branches off to the south shortly afterwards at Nostrand Junction. The last three stations are a two-over-two track layout with a platform on each level. Afterwards, the IRT Eastern Parkway Line ends under Ralph Avenue, one block east of its originally intended terminus, whereas the local tracks become theIRT New Lots Line, branching off to the southeast emerging from the ground near Buffalo Avenue at Lincoln Terrace Park.[2] The line was built mostly with two levels, with southbound trains on the upper level, and northbound trains on the lower level to protect the trees in the north median of Eastern Parkway to the greatest extent possible.[70]
^Sources differ over the extent of the Eastern Parkway Line or whether it is even a separate line. In a 1981 list of "most deteriorated subway stations", the MTA listed Borough Hall and Court Street stations as part of the New Lots Line.[6] Thechaining designation "M" (Joralemon Street Tunnel) becomes "E" (Eastern Parkway Line) just west of the Borough Hall platforms; the Court Street and northern Borough Hall stations are chained "K" (Clark Street Tunnel). However, as of 2007, emergency exit signs label Court Street as anIRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line station, and the two parts of Borough Hall are signed as being along the Broadway–Seventh Avenue andIRT Lexington Avenue Lines.
^"IRT Brooklyn Line Opened 90 Years Ago".New York Division Bulletin.53 (9). New York Division, Electric Railroaders' Association. September 2010. Archived fromthe original on April 8, 2016. RetrievedAugust 31, 2016 – via Issu.
Note that this is a list of New York City Subway lines, which are the physical infrastructure over whichservices operate. Lines with colors next to them aretrunk lines; trunk lines determine the color ofNew York City Subway service bullets, except forshuttles, which are dark gray.
Stations and line segments initalics are closed, demolished, or planned (temporary closures are marked with asterisks). Track connections to other lines' terminals are displayed in brackets.Struck through passenger track connections are closed or unused in regular service.
Media related toIRT Eastern Parkway Line at Wikimedia Commons
