place

63rd Street Tunnel

Crossings of the East RiverImmersed tube tunnels in the United StatesNew York City Subway infrastructureProgram for ActionRailroad tunnels in New York City
Roosevelt IslandTunnels completed in 1989Tunnels in Manhattan
East Side Access
East Side Access

The 63rd Street Tunnel is a double-deck subway and railroad tunnel under the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Queens in New York City. Opened in 1989, it is the newest of the East River tunnels, as well as the newest rail river crossing in the New York metropolitan area. The upper level of the 63rd Street Tunnel carries the IND 63rd Street Line of the New York City Subway. As of 2021, the tunnel's lower level has never been used for passenger service, but is expected to carry Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) trains to a new train terminal under Grand Central Terminal, following the completion of the East Side Access project, scheduled for 2022. Construction of the 63rd Street Tunnel began in 1969, and the tunnel was holed through beneath Roosevelt Island in 1972. Completion of the tunnel and its connections was delayed by the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis and the upper level was not opened until 1989, twenty years after construction started. The lower level was not opened at that time because of the cancellation of the LIRR route to Manhattan. The tunnel was initially referred to as the "tunnel to nowhere" because its Queens end did not connect to any other subway line until 2001. Construction on the East Side Access project, which will incorporate the lower level, started in 2006. During construction, the lower level is being used to move materials between the work sites in Manhattan and staging areas in Queens.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article 63rd Street Tunnel (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

63rd Street Tunnel
John Finley Walk, New York Manhattan

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: 63rd Street TunnelContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 40.76 ° E -73.955 °
placeShow on map

Address

John Finley Walk

John Finley Walk
10044 New York, Manhattan
New York, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

East Side Access
East Side Access
Share experience

Nearby Places

Roosevelt Island station
Roosevelt Island station

The Roosevelt Island station is a station on the IND 63rd Street Line of the New York City Subway. Located in Manhattan on Roosevelt Island in the East River, it is served by the F train at all times and the train during rush hours in the reverse peak direction. The Roosevelt Island station was first proposed in 1965, when the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) announced that it would build a subway station to encourage transit-oriented development on Roosevelt Island. The station and the rest of the 63rd Street Line were built as part of the Program for Action, a wide-ranging subway expansion program, starting in the late 1960s. When construction of the line was delayed, the Roosevelt Island Tram was built in 1973. The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation was formed in 1984 to develop the island, but was not successful until October 1989 when the subway station opened along with the rest of the 63rd Street Line. The opening encouraged the development of the island, which has made the station busier. Until December 2001, this was the second-to-last stop of the line, which terminated one stop east at 21st Street–Queensbridge. In 2001, the 63rd Street Tunnel Connection opened, allowing trains from the IND Queens Boulevard Line to use the line. Since the opening of the connection, the line has been served by F trains, and the subway then became the second means for direct travel between the island and Queens, supplementing the buses that had been operating over the Roosevelt Island Bridge. The station is one of the system's deepest, at 100 feet (30 m) below ground, because the line passes under the West and East Channels of the East River at either end of the station.