The IND Queens Boulevard Line, sometimes abbreviated as QBL, Just after curving north under the Van Wyck Expressway, a flying junction joins the two-track Archer Avenue Line () to the local and express tracks. Soon after, the line turns west under Queens Boulevard.
thumb|left|39th Avenue Ventilation Complex on Northern Boulevard
East of Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike, another flying junction ties the eastward tracks to Jamaica Yard. The other side of the wye curves west to become a lower level of the subway just west of Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike. After passing through 75th Avenue, those tracks join the local and express tracks at another flying junction. This is only one of two areas in the subway where the express tracks diverge from the local tracks (the other being the IND Culver Line between Seventh Avenue and Church Avenue.) The two-track 63rd Street Line () splits from both sets of tracks at a flying junction, running to Manhattan under 41st Avenue. The Queens Boulevard Line continues under Northern Boulevard to Queens Plaza () before splitting into three parts at another flying junction. The express tracks () continue towards Manhattan under 44th Drive, while the local tracks split two ways, with the 60th Street Tunnel Connection () turning northwest and the IND Crosstown Line () remaining under Jackson Avenue (Northern Boulevard south of Queens Plaza). From this point on, the Queens Boulevard Line has only two tracks. the long-disused platform was demolished in June 2013 to make way for the extension of the IRT Flushing Line.
Services
The following services use part or all of the IND Queens Boulevard Line: The R enters Queens Boulevard from the Broadway Line and the 60th Street Tunnel before making local stops to Forest Hills–71st Avenue at all times except late nights.
History
Construction
The Queens Boulevard Line, also referred to as the Long Island City−Jamaica Line, Fifty-third Street−Jamaica Line, and Queens Boulevard−Jamaica Line prior to opening, was one of the original lines of the city-owned Independent Subway System (IND), planned to stretch between the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan and 178th Street and Hillside Avenue in Jamaica, Queens.
As originally proposed in 1925, the line's junction with the IND Crosstown Line in Long Island City would have been a T-junction, allowing trains from Manhattan to travel south to Brooklyn via the Crosstown line. that would have had the line turn via Kew Gardens Road after the Union Turnpike station instead of continuing via Queens Boulevard. After proceeding via Kew Gardens Road, the line would have turned via Hillside Avenue. The map shows a second line branching off and continuing along Queens Boulevard, then running under private property on a diagonal line to Sutphin Boulevard, where it would continue south until it reached the LIRR Jamaica station.
During construction, only bellmouths were built for the line, however, they were eventually used for the IND Archer Avenue Line. As documented by the map, the Queens Boulevard Line, as originally planned, would have had the express trains travel on a more direct route, via Broadway and Queens Boulevard, while the local trains would take a less direct route hitting larger population centers. There were to be two such instances, however, only one was actually completed. The first one, which was not constructed, would have gone through Winfield (now Woodside), west of the existing Elmhurst Avenue station, and the local tracks would have diverged, continuing via Queens Boulevard before turning onto 69th Street (Fisk Avenue), rejoining the express tracks at Broadway in Woodside. The second instance, the one that was built, was planned to have the local tracks continue via Broadway west of the 65th Street station, and then it would turn south via Steinway Street before rejoining the express tracks at the 36th Street station. The express tracks here would take the more direct route, via Northern Boulevard.
Originally, the New York City Board of Transportation (BOT) did not plan for a 50th Street station on the Queens Boulevard Line. This station was to have only been served by Eighth Avenue trains heading north toward Washington Heights. The Eighth Avenue Association petitioned the BOT for an additional stop at 50th Street. On November 21, 1926, it was announced that the BOT had agreed to construct a stop at this location for the Queens Boulevard Line.
On February 26, 1927, the New York City Board of Estimate awarded and approved a $10,481,550 contract to the Patrick McGovern Company. Ground was broken at Vernon Boulevard and 44th Drive in Long Island City on April 2, 1927. The first contract for work entirely within Queens was given to the Atwell-Gustin-Morris Company by the BOT on December 14, 1927. The contract covered the section of the line under Jackson Avenue between the junction with the under-construction Crosstown Line near Queen Street and 44th Drive. The section between Arch Street and Steinway Avenue was awarded to the W.G.T. Construction Company, which required moving the support pillars for the elevated IRT Flushing Line to the sides of the street. Triest Construction Company was awarded the next segment, which was between Queen Street and the intersection of Northern Boulevard and 37th Street. The following section was awarded to J.F. Cogan Company, which was required to build the section between the intersection of Steinway Street and Broadway and the intersection of 53rd Street and Northern Boulevard. The remainder of the line was called Route 108, and it was divided into six sections. The first section, between 53rd Street and Pettit Place via Broadway went to Atwell-Gustin-Morris Company, while the section between along Broadway and Queens Boulevard from Pettit Place to 55th Avenue went to George H. Flynn Company. The sections from 55th Avenue to 64th Road and from 64th Road to 71st Road went to Arthur A. Johnson. The final two sections were from 71st Road to Union Turnpike, and from 137th Street (now the Van Wyck Expressway) to Hillside Avenue.
The two tubes of the 53rd Street Tunnel under the East River began construction in spring 1927, and were fully excavated between Queens and Manhattan in January 1929, with a ventilation shaft built on Welfare Island (today's Roosevelt Island). On October 4, 1928, the Board of Estimate approved the construction of the Queens Boulevard Line.
Construction on the line began in December 1928, and the whole line cost $58 million. During the line's construction, several intersections of Queens Boulevard with major roads were grade separated, in a similar manner to Grand Concourse in the Bronx during the building of the IND Concourse Line around that same time. In Kew Gardens, Union Turnpike and the Interboro Parkway (now the Jackie Robinson Parkway) were depressed below Queens Boulevard at the level of the Union Turnpike station's mezzanine. From the mezzanine at Union Turnpike, an entrance was built from the Interboro Parkway, allowing passengers from buses and automobiles to be dropped off here instead of from Queens Boulevard. The subway from Long Island City to Roosevelt Avenue and 74th Street was completed by April 1932. With the widening, Queens Boulevard was wide enough for the construction of a four track subway line without serious disruption of surface travel, with the area alongside the boulevard not built up in many places. More often than not in some places, billboards would be visible instead of buildings. During the construction of the line, electric utility service was temporarily provided by a wooden pole line. Once the construction of the line was completed, the utility service was underground, and the Queens Boulevard trolley line was replaced by bus service (today's ), in part due to competition with the newly constructed subway line. Because the construction of the Queens Boulevard Line utilized the cut-and-cover tunneling method, Queens Boulevard had to be torn up and in order to allow pedestrians to cross, temporary bridges were built over the trenches. Like other IND lines, many stations' mezzanines stretched the full length and width of their stations, and are now considered to be overbuilt.
On October 16, 1930, James A. Burke, the chairman of the Hillside Avenue Subway Extension Committee stated that the extension of the line to Springfield Boulevard was a certainty after receiving a letter from the Transportation Commissioner. On December 1, 1930, the BOT announced that a station would be constructed at 178th Street and Hillside Avenue, but would be done under the section between 178th Street and Springfield Boulevard, which was to be constructed simultaneously with the section from 137th Street to 178th Street. This announcement was made in response to a request by the Jamaica Estates Association for a station at 178th Street. At the time, BOT engineers were completing the design for the extension to Springfield Boulevard and the BOT said that bids on its construction might be let in the near future. On December 23, 1930, the contract for the construction of the section between 137th Street and 178th Street, Route 108, Section 11, was let.
On December 18, 1931, it was announced that the completion of the Queens Boulevard Line to Roosevelt Avenue was delayed until January 1, 1933. Previously, it has been announced that the line would open in 1931 or 1932. On January 18, 1933, Chairman of the Board of Transportation announced that work on the first section of the line would be completed by September. In addition, Delaney submitted the capital outlay program for the year, which called for the completion of the extension of the line to 177th Street and Hillside Avenue on January 1, 1935. The line was not completed by January 1 because the funding necessary for the final outstanding contract, which was for the installation of transformers and switch houses, was not registered until January by the Controller. In addition, one of the contractors, the L. I. Waldman Company, fell behind schedule. As a result, the company was fined and ordered to increase its labor force to complete the project on schedule. In March the September opening date was moved to August.
Building boom and the growth of communities
thumb|alt=Streetscape of Forest Hills, Queens|Neighborhoods in Queens, such as [[Forest Hills, Queens|Forest Hills (pictured), sprung up around the new subway. In order to allow for the speculators to build fifteen-story apartment buildings, several blocks were rezoned. They built apartment buildings in order to accommodate the influx of residents from Midtown Manhattan that would desire a quick and cheap commute to their jobs. Since the new line had express tracks, communities built around express stations, such as in Forest Hills and Kew Gardens became more desirable to live. With the introduction of the subway into the community of Forest Hills, Queens Borough President George U. Harvey predicted that Queens Boulevard would become the "Park Avenue of Queens". Following the line's completion, there was an increase in the property values of buildings around Queens Boulevard. For example, a property along Queens Boulevard that would have sold for $1,200 in 1925, would have sold for $10,000 in 1930. The population of Forest Hills in 1930 was 18,000, having increased to 100,000 in 1965.
The construction boom was not limited to express stations, with fifteen-story apartment buildings built by Cord Meyer, an eighty-family apartment house built by the Rego Park Construction Corporation, and 300 one-family homes built along Woodhaven Boulevard by Pherbus Kaplan, all surrounding the 63rd Drive local station. These development companies all sought out to continue to increase the value of their properties in anticipation of the opening of the subway.
Queens Boulevard, prior to the construction of the subway, was just a route to allow people to get to Jamaica, running through farmlands. Since the construction of the line, the area of the thoroughfare that stretches from Rego Park to Kew Gardens has been home to apartment buildings, and a thriving business district that the Chamber of Commerce calls the "Golden Area".
From 1940 to 1950, in large part because of the construction of the Queens Boulevard Line, the population of Queens dramatically increased by 248,678, of which, 210,000 lived in areas alongside the new line and the buses that connected to it. By 1940, there were 27.5 square miles of vacant land alongside the line that could be used for housing, compared with only 8 in Brooklyn, 4 in the Bronx, and none in Manhattan.
Opening and expansion
The first section of the line, west from Roosevelt Avenue to 50th Street, opened on August 19, 1933 at 12:01 a.m. Initially trains ran on four to six-minute headways during rush hours. Later that year, a $23 million loan was approved to finance the remainder of the line, along with other IND lines.
In 1934 and 1935, construction of the extension to Jamaica was suspended for 15 months and was halted by strikes. Construction was further delayed due to a strike in 1935, instigated by electricians opposing wages paid by the General Railway Signal Company. On January 21, 1935, BOT Chairman John Delaney said that express service in Queens would not begin until construction on the proposed IND Sixth Avenue Line was completed. In February 1935, it was expected that work on Jamaica Yard would be completed by August 20. Construction was not begun until piles had been sunk, through mud and fill, into firm sand.
On March 17, 1936, at a hearing of the New York State Transit Commission and the New York State Public Service Commission, the LIRR said that it would seek permission in 1937 to abandon the three stations along its Main Line between Jamaica and Pennsylvania Station—Kew Gardens, Forest Hills, and Woodside. The LIRR had said that it anticipated a loss of annual revenue between $750,000 and $1 million with the opening of the extension of the Queens Boulevard Line to Jamaica.
The opening of the line to Continental Avenue was expected in October as of April 1936. At the same time, it was announced that Jamaica Yard would be placed into service with this extension of service. The installation of third rail and storage tracks were expected to be completed by the early summer.
In April 1936, William Jerome Daly, the secretary of the BOT, stated, in response to requests for a stop at 178th Street, that constructing a station at that location would prevent express service from operating past Continental Avenue. He said that with a final station at 169th Street, expresses could run to Parsons Boulevard, and that if the line was extended to Springfield Boulevard as planned, express service could be extended past 178th Street with a yard east of the new terminal.
In August 1936, construction to Forest Hills was expected to be completed by the end of the year. The tracks were installed all the way to 178th Street, and the stations to Union Turnpike were completed. However, the stops to the east still needed to be tiled, have stairways, turnstiles and lighting installed. Only two additional contracts remained to be put up for bid, both the results of last minute changes. The first of the two changes was for finishing the Ely Avenue station which did not open with the initial segment to Roosevelt Avenue. The second of the two entails the eastern terminal of the line. Initially, express trains were planned to terminate at a station at 178th Street. However, the plans were changed to terminate the express trains at Parsons Boulevard, requiring the installation of switches. Since construction of the tunnel was already completed in this section, a few hundred feet of tunnel wall had to be removed to fit the two switches. Since the line's new terminal would be at 169th Street, the tracks at 178th Street would be used to turn back trains. This change led to protests from the Jamaica Estates Association. Accordingly, the line was extended east from Roosevelt Avenue to Union Turnpike on that date. This extension cost $27 million, of which $5.8 million was for Jamaica Yard, $1.4 million was for real estate, $2.2 million, and $16.2 million for tunnels and tracks.
In March 1937, the extension to 169th Street was expected to be opened on May 1, requiring work to be finished by April 3 and fully approved and tested by April 20. As of this point, minor station work remained, including the installation of light bulbs, with the only major work left to be completed the final in the 169th Street terminal. Workers were working on installing the signaling for the two additional switches required. Work on the section east of Union Turnpike, including the eastern yard leads to Jamaica Yard, which was initially planned to be completed on October 20, 1936, was completed on March 31, 1937.
thumb|Poster announcing the extension of service to 169th Street and the inauguration of express service on April 24, 1937.
On April 9, 1937, Mayor La Guardia announced that the operation of the $14.4 million extension to Jamaica and express service would begin on April 24. The extension to Hillside Avenue and 178th Street, with a terminal station at 169th Street opened as planned on April 24, 1937. Express service was inaugurated during rush hours, with E trains making express stops from 71st–Continental Avenues to Queens Plaza. The express service operated between approximately 6:30 and 10:30 a.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The sections of the line east of Roosevelt Avenue were built by the Public Works Administration.
This extension was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Parsons Boulevard station and with a parade along Hillside Avenue. The initial headway for express service was between three and five minutes. 23rd Street–Ely Avenue station opened as an in-fill station on August 28, 1939. Upon its extension into Jamaica, the line drew Manhattan-bound passengers away from the nearby BMT Jamaica Line subway and the Long Island Rail Road.
From April 30, 1939 to October 1940, the Queens Boulevard Line served the 1939 New York World's Fair via the World's Fair Railroad. The World's Fair line ran via a connection through the Jamaica Yard and through Flushing Meadows–Corona Park along the current right-of-way of the Van Wyck Expressway. The 1939 World's Fair was served by GG trains, some of which were marked as S Special. Trains were extended to the World's Fair Station at all times during the fair, supplemented by PM hour trains. The fair closed on October 28, 1940, and was demolished later that year. As a result, GG service was truncated to Forest Hills–71st Avenue. After calls from public officials such as Queens Borough President George Harvey to make the line a permanent connection to Flushing and northern Queens, the line was demolished in 1941. This setup was instituted to prevent congestion at both stations. The Transit Commission recommended Burke's proposed extension to the BOT, which they estimated would cost $150,000, and stated that a BOT drawing dated December 30, 1935, had indicated such a temporary station.
The construction of an extension was planned in 1940, and was ready to bid on in 1942 when it was delayed by World War II. On August 1, 1946, the Board of Estimate approved the plan for the extension of the line, which was estimated to cost $10.3 million, of which, $7,764,000 would go to construction, with the remainder for subway cars, power substations, third rail and signal equipment, and other electrical equipment. The project was expected to be completed within five years of the date that the contract was awarded.
Construction on the extension started in 1947 and was projected to be completed in 1949. The extension was completed later than expected and opened on December 11, 1950. E trains were extended there at all times and F trains were extended evenings, nights, and Sunday mornings.
On May 13, 1951, all trains outside of rush hour were extended to 179th Street using the local tracks beyond Parsons Boulevard. On October 8, 1951, trains were extended to 179th Street at all times. During rush hours, F trains skipped 169th Street running via the express tracks. At other times, the F stopped at 169th Street.
Late 20th century
thumb|left|The route was created in 2001 to add service as part of the [[63rd Street Lines|connection with the 63rd Street Line, but was eliminated in 2010.]]
In 1953, the platforms were lengthened at 75th Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard to to allow E and F trains to run eleven car trains. The E and F began running eleven-car trains during rush hours on September 8, 1953. The extra train car increased the total carrying capacity by 4,000 passengers. The lengthening project cost $400,000. The operation of eleven-car trains ended in 1958 because of operational difficulties. The signal blocks, especially in Manhattan, were too short to accommodate the longer trains, and the motormen had a very small margin of error to properly platform the train. It was found that operating ten-car trains allowed for two additional trains per hour to be scheduled.
Because local service was only offered by the GG trains which only ran into Brooklyn, riders were forced to transfer at express stations to reach Manhattan. This caused overcrowding and delays. The BOT had first proposed a connection between the Queens Boulevard Line and the 60th Street Tunnel in 1940. Fifteen years later, on December 1, 1955, a connection to the 60th Street Tunnel opened, allowing trains from the BMT Broadway Line to serve Queens Boulevard as an additional local from 71st−Continental. This connection was one of the most important links in the system, correcting the 1930s error of insufficient capacity for Queens–Manhattan traffic. This service would be replaced by trains in 1961, a new EE train in 1967, and trains in 1976. Effective May 6, 1985, use of double letters to indicate local service was discontinued, so the GG was relabeled G.
On April 20, 1981, Councilman Steven Orlow said the New York City Transit Authority agreed to put a contract to replace the lighting at six stations on the Queens Boulevard Line from 75th Avenue to 169th Street up for bidding in October, with work to be completed by early 1982. The existing lighting at the stations meant that platforms were very dimly lit, and made riders feel unsafe.
Until 1986, two E trains and two F trains started at Continental Avenue in the morning rush hour with the intention to relieve congestion. These trains were eliminated because they resulted in a loading imbalance as these lightly loaded trains would be followed by extremely crowded trains from 179th Street, which followed an 8-minute gap of E and F service from 179th Street.
On May 24, 1987, and services swapped terminals in Queens to provide R trains direct access to the Jamaica Yard. As part of the reroute plan, F service along Queens Boulevard was discontinued during late nights (1 a.m. to 5 a.m.). Late night local service was replaced by the R, which ran as a Queens Boulevard Local at all times. F trains were cut back to 57th Street on the Sixth Avenue Line during late nights. In addition, Queens Plaza became the northern terminal for the G train on evenings, weekends and late nights. In 1986, the TA studied which two services should serve the line during late nights as ridership at this time did not justify three services. A public hearing was held in December 1986, and it was determined that having the E and R run during late nights provided the best service. while the E and F express trains would have remained on the Queens Boulevard mainline towards 179th Street. The N train was to have been extended from 71st Avenue to Jamaica Center during weekdays, and, when it terminated at 57th Street or 71st Avenue, during evenings and weekends, the G would have been extended to Jamaica Center, and during late nights, a G train shuttle would have run between Jamaica Center and Van Wyck Boulevard.
On December 11, 1988, the Archer Avenue Lines opened, utilizing existing provisions east of the Briarwood station. The E was rerouted to its current terminus at Jamaica Center. The R was extended to 179th Street to serve local stations east of Continental Avenue, replacing local E service to 179th Street, allowing F trains to continue running express to 179th Street. F trains no longer stopped at 169th Street between 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. During the morning rush hour, some R trains went into service at Continental Avenue, because local ridership from 179th Street during rush hours did not warrant it. All R trains went to 179th Street during the afternoon rush to avoid taking loaded R trains out of service at Continental. On September 30, 1990 the R was cut back to 71st–Continental Avenue outside of rush hours. Late night service to 179th Street was replaced by G service, while F trains began running local east of 71st Avenue during middays, evenings, and weekends.
In response, the MTA considered three options including leaving service as is, having E trains run local east of 71st Avenue along with R service, and having F trains run local east of 71st Avenue replacing R service. Keeping service as is would have kept the reliability improvement that came with the relocation of the merge between E and F service from 75th Avenue to Van Wyck Boulevard, ensured maximum service capacity, and would have benefited the broad majority of riders on Queens Boulevard in terms of time savings and reliability. The second option would have decreased capacity by eight percent, or two trains per hour, increased travel times for most riders from Eastern Queens by 1–2 minutes, worsened reliability on the E and F, and introduced two merges-one with the R at Van Wyck Boulevard and one with the F at 75th Avenue. The third option was expected to help 13,880 people at former local stops with the introduction of direct express service, while lengthening trips by three minutes for 30,010 riders at Parsons Boulevard and 179th Street. In addition, it would decrease capacity by eight percent, or two trains per hour, reduce the reliability of E and F service, and possibly require more F service and less E service due to increases loads on the F. The third option was chosen to be tested in October or November 1992, and was expected to save the NYCTA $50,000 a year. It was also expected to slightly reduce ridership and revenue due to increased travel times for Eastern Queens riders.
On October 26, 1992, R trains were cut back to 71st Avenue at all times. In its place, the F ran local between 71st Avenue and 179th Street at all times, which eliminated express service along Hillside Avenue. This change was implemented for six months on an experimental basis at the request of passengers using the 169th Street, Sutphin Boulevard, Van Wyck Boulevard and 75th Avenue stations, which had lost direct Queens Boulevard Express service in 1988.
Between 1988 and 1990, following the opening of the Archer Avenue extension, ridership decreased by 12 percent at 179th Street, by 60 percent at 169th Street, by 47 percent at Parsons Boulevard, by 70 percent at Sutphin Boulevard, and by 28 percent at Van Wyck Boulevard.
Beginning on March 23, 1997, due to construction on the connector between the IND 63rd Street Line and the IND Queens Boulevard Line, G trains terminated at Court Square on evenings, nights and weekends. On August 30, 1997, late night G service was permanently cut back from 179th Street to Court Square, being replaced with the F running local east of Queens Plaza, meaning that the G only ran along the Queens Boulevard Line on weekdays. On that date, E service began running local in Queens during late nights. G service was extended to Forest Hills–71st Avenue at all other times, which represented the reverse of the previous pattern. Additional grates were later installed along Broadway and Steinway Street at the west end of the line.
In 2010, budget constraints within the MTA led to service reductions on the line. On April 19, 2010, G service was permanently truncated to Court Square at all hours; thus Crosstown Line trains, which originally were the sole trains to serve the Queens Boulevard local tracks, no longer ran on the line at all.
The 2015–2019 MTA Capital Plan called for the Queens Boulevard Line's Northern Boulevard, 67th Avenue, and Parsons Boulevard stations, along with 30 others, to undergo a complete overhaul as part of the Enhanced Station Initiative. Updates would have included cellular service, Wi-Fi, USB charging stations, interactive service advisories and maps, improved signage, and improved station lighting. However, in April 2018, it was announced that cost overruns had forced the MTA to reduce the number of subway stations included in the program from 33 stations to 20. The stations to be renovated on the IND Queens Boulevard Line were among the 13 stations without funding, which will be pushed back to the 2020–2024 Capital Plan. As part of the 2020—2024 Capital Plan, the Woodhaven Boulevard, Court Square—23rd Street, Steinway Street, Seventh Avenue, Briarwood, Northern Boulevard, and Parsons Boulevard stations will receive elevators to make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
In June 2025, internal MTA documents were leaked, indicating that a proposal to reroute M trains through the 63rd Street Tunnel and reroute F trains through the 53rd Street Tunnel would be presented for approval in fall 2025. If approved, the route swap would be implemented by December. The route swap is anticipated to reduce overcrowding at 63rd Street line stations, as well as reduce reliance on critical interlockings west of the 36th Street station in Queens. In September 2025, the MTA confirmed that the F and M trains would swap routings on weekdays starting on December 8, 2025, with the F running via 53rd Street and the M running via 63rd Street.
Communications-based train control
Congestion on the line during peak hours has existed for much of the line's history, The total cost for the entire Queens Boulevard Line is estimated at over $900 million. The automation of the Queens Boulevard Line means that the will be able to run three more trains during peak hours, up from 30 tph, and the local tracks' capacity would also be increased. In January 2017, L.K. Comstock & Company Inc. was selected to fulfill a $223.3-million contract to upgrade existing signals and install communications, fiber-optic, and CBTC infrastructure for the new signal system. The project also included the conversion of 309 sets of R160 subway cars for CBTC compatibility, which had been increased to 335 sets. The final section of phase one was activated in February 2022. In December 2021, the MTA Board approved the first of three contracts to install CBTC on the eastern portion of the Queens Boulevard Line.
On March 17, 2023, New York City Transit made adjustments to evening and late night E, F and R service to accommodate long-term CBTC installation on the Queens Boulevard Line between Union Turnpike and 179th Street, which requires using the express tracks west of Forest Hills for overnight train storage. After 9:30 p.m., Queens-bound R trains terminate at Queens Plaza, and Queens-bound E and F trains make local stops in Queens to fill in for R service. Brooklyn-bound F trains run local in Queens after 10:45 p.m. The MTA did not specify how long these changes would last. The line would have gone at least to the intersection of Hillside, Springfield Boulevard and Braddock Avenue (the latter two both formerly part of Rocky Hill Road) in Queens Village, with later plans to go as far as Little Neck Parkway in Bellerose near the Nassau County border. The extension to Springfield Boulevard, which on contract drawings was referred to as Route 108-Section 13, would have been a two track extension of the D3 and D4 express tracks, with five stations, at 187th Street, 197th Street, Cross Island Boulevard (today's Francis Lewis Boulevard), 214th Street, and the terminal at Springfield Boulevard. All of these stations, with the exception of Springfield Boulevard, would have had two side platforms. Hillside Avenue was widened in the 1930s between 218th Street and 229th Street, in order to accommodate construction of the proposed Springfield Boulevard station and to accommodate an underpass for Hillside Avenue underneath Springfield Boulevard and Braddock Avenue. Six station entrances would have been provided at Springfield Boulevard and Braddock Avenue. The station would have stretched as far east as 88th Avenue. The two tracks would have continued to 229th Street. As part of the extension of the line to 179th Street in 1950, provisions were made to extend this line farther east via Hillside Avenue. East of the 179th Street there are two four track levels both used as train storage. The upper level was intended to be extended eastward, while the lower level was always intended to be used to relay and store trains. The tracks on the upper level are longer than the lower level tracks and the upper level tracks have a wooden partition at the bumper blocks. The tracks continue until 184th Street. The 63rd Drive station has similar bellmouths, which would have fed directly into the inactive portion of the Long Island Rail Road's former Rockaway Beach Branch near its former junction with the LIRR Main Line (Whitepot Junction). One stop west, the Woodhaven Boulevard station has provisions to be converted into an express station. East of the Briarwood station, there were additional trackways built for an extension down Van Wyck Boulevard (today the Van Wyck Expressway) to Rockaway Boulevard, near the current site of John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Program for Action
When proposed in the mid-1960s under the MTA's Program for Action, the Archer Avenue and 63rd Street subway lines were two parts of a major planned expansion of Queens Boulevard line service. The proposed connection to the LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch resurfaced, with proposed branch lines along other LIRR lines to outer Queens areas without rapid transit service. these plans (the most important of which are outlined below) were derailed by the 1970s fiscal crisis, which delayed the completion of the Archer Avenue and 63rd Street lines. Later proposals suggested routing the bypass directly to the Archer Avenue line via the LIRR Montauk Branch (which no longer has passenger service). A bellmouth was built at the end of the tunnel should construction on the bypass ever commence.
Northeast Queens line
Another less publicized plan around this time was a branch line diverging from the Queens Boulevard mainline near Woodhaven Boulevard, and running along the Long Island Expressway (LIE) corridor to Kissena Boulevard at Queens College, and later to Fresh Meadows and Bayside. This "Northeastern Queens" line, or Route 131-C, would have been built in conjunction with the planned widening of the expressway. The subway tracks would have been placed under the expressway or its service roads, or in the median of a widened LIE in a similar manner to the Congress Branch of the Chicago "L".