NYT event listing for Children's Museum, Nov 2003

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

ACCESSING THE REGION: NORTHERN SUBURBS Subway & Commuter Rail Expansion and Improvements Methods of improving rail access to Lower Manhattan for commuters from northern New York and Connecticut have been in discussion for decades. While Metro-North Railroad provides excellent service from Westchester, Connecticut, and other northern suburbs to Grand Central Terminal, the connecting trip to Lower Manhattan adds time and increases unpredictability. In the evening, a five-minute delay in uptown subway service can result in missing the connection to a Metro-North train and become a half hour-long delay for regional commuters heading home.

The directness and speed of the Lexington Avenue Express (the 4 and 5 lines) will continue to be highly important for Lower Manhattan. However, the level of crowding at rush hour — both on­ board the trains as well as on the platform — is a drawback for commuters destined for Lower Manhattan. Passengers sometimes must wait on densely crowded platforms for one or more fuUy loaded trains to pass by before there is room to board. Once inside the subway car, they are often unable to secure a seat as trains come into the station near or at capacity.

Several steps must be taken in order to remedy the challenges of the Metro-North/Lexington Avenue commute:

Lower-Level Lexington Line Connection at Grand Central Terminal According to the MTA, approximately 1.3 million passengers use the Lexington Avenue subway on a daily basis, making it the busiest subway line in the entire United States. Of the approximately 13,000 Metro-North morning peak period riders who transfer at Grand Central Terminal to the southbound Lexington Avenue subway, about two-thirds, or over 8,000, are destined for Lower Manhattan south of Houston Street. During a typical morning rush hour, it can take upwards of seven minutes for a Metro-North commuter to walk from the commuter train platform to the downtown platform of the Lexington Avenue subway. Much of this time can be spent in queues at narrow stairs, escalator banks and turnstiles. These factors nearly double the length of time it should take to get downtown.

Tangible improvement of the crowding and queuing conditions along pedestrian routes within Grand Central Terminal can be achieved in the immediate term by building the lower level Lexington Connection, a new pedestrian link within Grand Central Terminal for Metro-North cus­ tomers going to and from the subway. Addressing the peak crowding conditions within the subway station at Grand Central and on the subway trains themselves requires a more comprehensive and longer-term solution — namely, the construction of a new subway line — the Second Avenue Subway — to relieve conditions on the crowded Lexington Avenue line. (See more on the Second Avenue Subway below.)

72 Lower Manhattan Transportation Strategies

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