All sorts of wild plans were in the original long list. Some things people (especially railfans) know about and would like to see, such as a tunnel or new bridge to replace the Manhattan Bridge, a track connection between the Franklin shuttle and the Fulton St. line, with a connection between the local tracks at Hoyt-Schemerhorn and the 6th Av. tracks at Jay St; or a connection between the Brighton and Culver lines under Prospect Park. There were also alot of things we never would have thought of, such as the new replacement bridge or tunnel being placed in either of two other locations down river from the Manhattan Bridge, or converting the Battery Tunnel to rail use. Even ideas as like restoring the Nassau Loop or K service using the Essex-Bway Lafayette connection were on there, even though these couldn't possibly help the bridge situations since they would rely on the bridges.
all of these plans failed within the first 3 phases of the study, for reasons like cost-benefit analysis and/or disruption to the community or subway service during construction. The main build option that made it to the final stage was the construction of a short tunnel connecting the bridge bound tracks near the abandoned Myrtle Av. station to the F line tracks (Rutgers St. tunnel) beyond the York St. station. There was a provision for a turnout to a loop beyond Myrtle Av. (a section of wall that diverges but abruptly ends), and this is probably where the connection would begin.
TSM: Transportation System Management. This is the cheap, almost construction free alternative. It gives us an idea of how the four bridge service patterns work in the system as it is now.
MBA2: Under this plan, both the Nostrand Junction on the IRT, and the DeKalb-Rutgers connection are built. The former increses capacity on the IRT, by allowing 2 and 5 trains to reach the Eastern Pkway line without having to cross over 3 and 4 trains as they do now.
MBA5: DeKalb Rutgers is built, but not Nostrand. BMT Service Patterns are almost identical to MBA2, and since this is the one that was chosen, it is what will be shown here.
MBA8: Nostrand reconstruction, but no Rutgers connection. On the BMT, service patterns are similar to TSM, except a significant difference on the bridge fully closed pattern, which is what I will show.
All of these plans also call for connections built between Broadway Lafayette and the uptown Bleecker St. station (long proposed), Jay and Lawrence Street stations (currently being built), and and the lengthening of #3 line trains to 10 cars (which has occurred).
C=Bridge Fully Closed
S=South Side open (like now)
N=North Side open
O=Fully Open
TSM-C This gives us an idea of what they will do if the Manhattan Bridge was to be completely closed to trains.
| Terminal | line | Brooklyn route | Brooklyn Stop pattern | TPH | Crossing | Manhattan route | Manhattan Stop Pattern | Crossing | Route | Terminal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coney Island | B | West End 4th Ave. | express | 9 | Pacific St. | ||||||
| 34th Street | D | 10 | 6th Ave. | express | CPW/Concourse | 205th St | |||||
| Coney Island | F | Culver | Local* | 14 | Rutgers | 6th Ave | local | 53rd St.(63rd St) | Queens Blvd | 179th St. | |
| Coney Island | FV | Culver | local* | 14 | Rutgers | 6th Ave. | Local | 63rd St.(53rd St.) | Queens Blvd | 71st or 179th St | |
| Chambers St. | M | 7 | Nassau | local | Williamsburg Bridge | Myrtle Ave. | Metropolitan | ||||
| Coney Island | N | Sea Beach, 4th Ave. | local | 8 | Montague St Tunnel | Broadway | local | 60th St | Astoria | Ditmars Blvd | |
| Coney Island | Q | Brighton | local* | 12 | Montague St. Tunnel | Broadway | Express | 57th St. | |||
| Brighton Beach | QS | Brighton | local* | 7 | Franklin Ave | ||||||
| 95th St. | R | 4th Ave. | Local | 8 | Montague St. Tunnel | Broadway | Local | 60th St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd. | 71st St. | |
| Grand St. | S | 6 | Shuttle | Bway-Lafayette |
*Notice, F and "FV" service on full length of Culver, but no express service.
Also, Franklin Shuttle extended to Brighton Beach, but also no express service. This plan counted on the Franklin shuttle being rebuilt to full two track, 600 ft. station capacity. The rebuilding of the shuttle was apart of the ERC plan, but became a "no build" option, as it was already proceeding under another project. Of course, that project called for single tracking for half of the line, and 170 foot stations. So as it is now, only 2 car trains at even fewer tph could run. But it seems provisions were left on the line for extension: notice the ballasted right-of-way space between the platform and stationhouse at Park Place, and between the platform and the edge of the structure at Franklin. The other trackway could be put in with only modest construction, rather than rebuilding the whole line again, and a concrete room would have to be demolished to extend the northbound Botanic Gardens platform.
Also a highlight of TSM-C is the extensive supplemental bus service over the Manhattan Bridge ond Battery Tunnel. (Original plans called for Brooklyn Bridge, but they couldn't get over the weight restrictions on the bridge, so then they proposed Bus/HOV only lanes on the Manhattan Bridge
The B-45 (8 peak hour trips both ways) and B-67 (5 trips) would be extended from their present routes on Livingston St. over the Manhattan Bridge to a "Downtown Loop" (probably the present route of the B-51, which would be eliminated) to City Hall.
A new "B-99" from both Atlantic Terminal and Empire Blvd via Flatbush Ave. (12 peak hour trips both ways each) would also run over the bridge to City Hall.
the B-71 would be extended from Union St. through the Battery Tunnel and West or Church streets to "Lower Manhattan"
A new bus storage facility of about 19,440 feet would be required. Two potential locations were identified: a large block of cleared property between Delancey and Broome Sts. in the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area Extension (owned by the city), and two plots beneath the ramps of the Williamsburg Bridge, on opposite sides of Columbia Street.
Another service plan of interest is MBA8-C. Under this plan, additional capacity is added to the IRT in Brooklyn, so the BMT and IND are revised a bit:
| Coney Island | F | Culver | Local | 23 | Rutgers St. Tunnel | 6th Ave. | Local | 53rd St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd | 179th St. |
| Coney Island | Q | Brighton | Local | 12 | Montague St. Tunnel | Broadway | Express | 63rd St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd. | 179th St. |
Both QS and FV are eliminated and replaced with increased/expanded F and Q service. This is the only one of the 16 ERC plans that called for use of Bway-63rd St. connection, and the Q serving both Queens Blvd. and Broadway. It is not listed what would serve 57th St.-6th Ave.
TSM-N and MBA8-N are basically the pattern that just ended 7-21-01 (Full B & D service, Q via 6th Av. and 63rd, but extended to Queens).
TSM-S and MBA8-S are like the plan in effect now, as of 7-22-01, only B and D are used in Brooklyn, instead of W and dual Q designations (like the '86-88 service, with B going to Astoria, etc.), and the uptown B doesn't run. Instead, the V terminates at 34th.
All four of these plans have the M still at Bay Parkway
TSM-O This gives us the idea of what the final 2004 service would have been like, but certain things have changed.
| Terminal | Line | Brooklyn route | Brooklyn Stop pattern | NB TPH | Crossing | Manhattan route | Manhattan Stop Pattern | Crossing | Route | Terminal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coney Island | B | West End 4th Ave. | Express | 6 | Manhattan Bridge A/B | 6th Ave. | Express | CPW | 168th St [Bedford Park] | |
| Coney Island | D | Brighton | Local | 10 | Manhattan Bridge A/B | 6th Ave. | Express | CPW/ Concourse | 205th St. | |
| Coney Island | F | Culver | Local | 17 | Rutgers St. Tunnel | 6th Ave. | Local | 53rd St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd. | 179th St. |
| 95th St. | M | 4th Ave. | Local | 7 | Montague St. Tunnel | Nassau | Local | Williamsburg Bridge | Myrtle Ave. | Metropolitan Ave. |
| Coney Island | N | Sea Beach 4th Ave. | Express | 10 | Manhattan Bridge H | Broadway | Express | 60th St. Tunnel | Astoria | Ditmars Blvd. |
| Brighton Beach | Q | Brighton | Express | 12 | Manhattan Bridge A/B | 6th Ave. | Express | 63rd St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd. | 179th St. |
| 95th St. | R | 4th Ave. | Local | 8 | Montague St. Tunnel | Broadway | Local | 60th St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd. | 71st. Continental |
| Coney Island | T | West End 4th Ave. | Express | 8 | Manhattan Bridge H | Broadway | Express | 57th St. |
This is interesting. M back to 95th, both B and T on West End. Of course, this reflects the '90's patten, with the Q seemingly fixed permanently on 6th Ave, and destined to become the 63rd St./Queens service. But now that the "S" phase of the bridge occured before the 63rd St. service change, the Q is now fixed back on Broadway, and in 2004, those extra slots on the H tracks will be given to it instead of the T, and on the 6th Av./63rd St. route, we'll have the V to 2nd Avenue, or if they're nice, to Church Av. along the Culver line, to allow the F to go express. (The burned out interlocking machine at Bergen should be replaced by then, and the G would have to be extended to Church as well).
Also, all of these plans reflect the pre-1997 B/C switch, with the B going to 168th and the C going to Bedford Park
The biggest difference between TSM and the actual service that is running, is that all the TSM plans, along with all MBA2 and MBA8 plans call for the ACE switch, as follows:
| Euclid Ave. | A | Fulton | Local | 12(TSM-C); 10 | Cranberry St. Tunnel | 8th Ave. | Express | Wash. Heights | 207th St. | |
| WTC | C | 8 | 8th Ave. | Local | CPW | Bedford Park [168th] | ||||
| Rockaway/ Lefferts | E | Fulton | Express | 18(TSM-C); 20 | Cranberry St. Tunnel | 8th Ave. | Express | 53rd St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd. | Jamaica |
This may seem strange, but it actually ran this way from 1964 to 1972! (A local, E express to Rockaways! The HH roundrobin was the only service to the Rockaways when the E didn't run, then in 1967, the A was extended evenings and weekends only. See Line History) The purpose of this proposal was to bring the higher capacity A service to the Franklin Av. station transfer for Brighton riders displaced by bridge closure (It would provide a nice alternative even if the bridge was open). Only MBA5 maintains the current A/C/E pattern.
Now here are the four bridge scenarios if the connection is built from DeKalb Ave. to the Rutgers St. (F) tunnel
| Terminal | Line | Brooklyn route | Brooklyn Stop pattern | NB TPH | Crossing | Manhattan route | Manhattan Stop Pattern | Crossing | Route | Terminal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coney Island | B [W] | West End 4th Ave. | Express | 9 | Pacific St. | |||||
| 34th Street | B | 6 | 6th Ave. | Local | CPW | 168th St. [Bedford Pk] | ||||
| Coney Island | D [Q] | Brighton | Local | 6 | Montague St. Tunnel | Broadway | Express | 60th St. Tunnel | Astoria | Ditmars Blvd. |
| 34th Street | D | 6 | 6th Ave. | Express | CPW/ Concourse | 205th St. | ||||
| Coney Island | F | Culver | Local | 15 | Rutgers St. Tunnel | 6th Ave. | Local | 53rd St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd. | 179th St. |
| Chambers St. | M | 7 | Nassau | Local | Williamsburg Bridge | Myrtle Ave. | Metropolitan Ave. | |||
| Coney Island | N | Sea Beach 4th Ave. | Local | 11 | Montague St. Tunnel | Broadway | Local | 60th St. Tunnel | Astoria | Ditmars Blvd. |
| Brighton Beach | Q [V] | Brighton | Express | 15 | Rutgers St. Tunnel | 6th Ave. | Local | 63rd St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd. | 179th St. |
| 95th St. | R | 4th Ave. | Local | 11 | Montague St. Tunnel | Broadway | Local | 60th St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd. | 71st Continental |
| Grand Street | S | 6 | Shuttle | Bway- Lafayette |
As we see, this isn't much better than TSM-C (Bridge closed with no Rutgers Connection). Even though some Rutgers connection enthusiasts (Such as urban planner Larry Littlefield on the Sub Talk board), envision B, D and Q service running through (or at least just the B and D, maintaining close to today's throughput), all 15 available trainslots are given to the Q (the other 15 through the maxed out tunnel are used by the F), leaving the West End still a shuttle and the M cut back to Chambers (as with no connection built). Notice the D to Astoria! (This is actually supported by the R-44/46 electronic side signs) We also have the strange arrangement of the D on Broadway and Q on 6th Ave., which then runs with another D in Manhattan. Of course, this would be changed, with the Broadway service as Q, and the 6th Av/63rd service as V. Whatever ran through the new connection would apparently be a local to Queens. Sending the B and/or D would require switching it to the local track at 34th or W 4th, which they are obviously trying to avoid.
| Terminal | Line | Brooklyn route | Brooklyn Stop pattern | NB TPH | Crossing | Manhattan route | Manhattan Stop Pattern | Crossing | Route | Terminal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coney Island | B | West End 4th Ave. | Express | 12 | Manhattan Bridge A/B | 6th Ave. | Express | CPW | 168th St [Bedford Park] | |
| Coney Island | D | Brighton | Local | 10 | Manhattan Bridge A/B | 6th Ave. | Express | CPW/ Concourse | 205th St. | |
| Coney Island | F | Culver | Local | 17 | Rutgers St. Tunnel | 6th Ave. | Local | 53rd St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd. | 179th St. |
| Coney Island | M | Brighton | Local | 7 | Montague St. Tunnel | Nassau | Local | Williamsburg Bridge | Myrtle Ave. | Metropolitan Ave. |
| Coney Island | N | Sea Beach 4th Ave. | Local | 8 | Manhattan Bridge A/B | 6th Ave. | Express | CPW | 168th St. | |
| Brighton Beach | Q | Brighton | Express | 12 | Rutgers St. Tunnel | 6th Ave. | Local | 63rd St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd. | 179th St. |
| 95th St. | R | 4th Ave. | Local | 10 | Montague St. Tunnel | Broadway | Local | 60th St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd. | 71st. Continental |
| Whitehall | W | 11 | Broadway | Local | 60th St. Tunnel | Astoria | Ditmars Blvd. |
This one is amazing. The W serving it's originally conceived function as being the local from Astoria to Whitehall while the N goes over the Bridge. But look at the other bombshell: The W is alone in Queens; The N is on the OTHER side of the Bridge (Remember, the Broadway side is closed under "N" scenarios), and up 6th Ave. uptown to 168th. St. It's hard to know whether Sea Beach aficionados, moaning over the N's seeming eternal banishment to the tunnel, would love this one or hate it. Plus, they still have it as local on 4th Ave., probably because the M is back on Brighton, another interesting feature. (MBA2-N: M still at Bay Parkway)
| Terminal | Line | Brooklyn route | Brooklyn Stop pattern | NB TPH | Crossing | Manhattan route | Manhattan Stop Pattern | Crossing | Route | Terminal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coney Island | B [W] | West End 4th Ave. | Express | 14 | Manhattan Bridge H | Broadway | Express | 60th St. Tunnel | Astoria | Ditmars Blvd. |
| 34th Street | B | 6 | 6th Ave. | Local | CPW | 168th St. [Bedford Pk] | ||||
| Coney Island | D [Q] | Brighton | Local | 8 | Manhattan Bridge H | Broadway | Express | 57th St. | ||
| 34th Street | D | 8 | 6th Ave. | Express | CPW/ Concourse | 205th St. | ||||
| Coney Island | F | Culver | Local | 17 | Rutgers St. Tunnel | 6th Ave. | Local | 53rd St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd. | 179th St. |
| 95th St. | M | 4th Ave. | Local | 7 | Montague St. Tunnel | Nassau | Local | Williamsburg Bridge | Myrtle Ave. | Metropolitan Ave. |
| Coney Island | N | Sea Beach 4th Ave. | Express | 8 | Manhattan Bridge H | Broadway | Express | 57th St. | ||
| Brighton Beach | Q [V] | Brighton | Express | 12 | Rutgers St. Tunnel | 6th Ave. | Local | 63rd St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd. | 179th St. |
| 95th St. | R | 4th Ave. | Local | 8 | Montague St. Tunnel | Broadway | Local | 60th St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd. | 71st Continental |
| Grand Street | S | 6 | Shuttle | Bway- Lafayette |
Once again, D on Broadway, Q on 6th Av. Notice the B is the only service to Astoria. The space freed on the H tracks by the Q is given to the N, which becomes the express to 57th, its original route the Sea Beach fans would be pleased with. M to 95th Again.
| Terminal | Line | Brooklyn route | Brooklyn Stop pattern | NB TPH | Crossing | Manhattan route | Manhattan Stop Pattern | Crossing | Route | Terminal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coney Island | B | West End 4th Ave. | Express | 12 | Manhattan Bridge A/B | 6th Ave. | Express | CPW | 168th St [Bedford Park] | |
| Coney Island | D | Brighton | Local | 10 | Manhattan Bridge A/B | 6th Ave. | Express | CPW/ Concourse | 205th St. | |
| Coney Island | F | Culver | Local | 16 | Rutgers St. Tunnel | 6th Ave. | Local | 53rd St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd. | 179th St. |
| Coney Island | M | Brighton | Local | 7 | Montague St. Tunnel | Nassau | Local | Williamsburg Bridge | Myrtle Ave. | Metropolitan Ave. |
| Coney Island | N | Sea Beach 4th Ave. | Local | 10 | Manhattan Bridge H | Broadway | Express | 60th St. Tunnel | Astoria | Ditmars Blvd. |
| Brighton Beach | Q | Brighton | Express | 12 | Rutgers St. Tunnel | 6th Ave. | Local | 63rd St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd. | 179th St. |
| 95th St. | R | 4th Ave. | Local | 10 | Montague St. Tunnel | Broadway | Local | 60th St. Tunnel | Queens Blvd. | 71st. Continental |
M on Brighton and N local on 4th Ave. again. (MBA2-O, M to 95th). The extra space on the H tracks is not used. Only the 10 N's per hour, resulting in a continued unbalanced load. As it stands now, if this were to go into effect, once again, the Q would be on Broadway, and the V using the Rutgers connection. Either the V would bump the M off the Brighton, and run with the D and Q, or it could go on the West End, or to 95th, probably local to allow the N to go express. Or maybe then they would send only the B through the connection and switch it back to the express, to reduce weight on the bridge. With the Rutgers conncetion you could also do other things, like bring 8th Av. service through DeKalb to the BMT south (it would switch at W4th then run with the F to the connection. For instance, under MBA5-N, instead of having both B and N run uptown via 6th Av, you could switch the N over to 8th Av. (and put the Q/V back on the bridge). Imagine a blue Sea Beach line on maps!
But this all may be wishful thinking, as the ERC plans seem to be another nice idea that just isn't getting the funding. Plus, the development of the area ("DUMBO"-- Down Under The Manhattan Bridge Overpass) will also make it harder to start the project. It was just announced that a luxury development will be put up on a lot right where the digging for the connector would have been.