NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – There have been new subway stations added in Manhattan in recent years, including on Second Avenue and at Hudson Yards – but now it may be Brooklyn’s turn to get new subway service.
The MTA is going to study the possibility of creating a Utica Avenue extension. It would essentially extend the number 4 line from Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, south down Utica Avenue in East Flatbush. The agency is also considering extending the number 3 line in Brooklyn.
The area’s subway stations and buses are heavily used: The number 3 and 4 lines on Eastern Parkway and Utica Avenue are some of the busiest in Brooklyn; and Utica Avenue has one of the borough’s busiest bus routes.
Extending the lines was first proposed back in 1910. In 2015, Mayor Bill de Blasio designated $5 million to study it.
The MTA will begin meeting Monday with local officials and surveying residents to determine what would be the best way forward for the area.
Other transit possibilities being considered are faster buses and a light-rail line.
Some riders 1010 WINS spokes with said they were on board with the subway extension.
One woman said it’s “time they start doing something about it and extend it.”
“We need it. The place is getting so crowded. Time to get moving and don’t just talk,” she said.
Ayesha, who takes a bus down Utica Avenue, said she might be interested in new subway stops if the MTA makes its existing system work better.
“They need to continue fixing what they’ve got going on, maybe not adding anything else,” she said. “Let people continue to commute the way they’ve been commuting. And once they get this fixed the way it should be, then maybe they should add another line or add a monorail. But they’ve got too much work to do.”