Bay Ridge subway riders have high hopes for a new elevator

Locals Expect to Hear Good News on 86th Street Lift in the Fall

August 12, 2016 By James Harney Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Plans for the construction of a street-level elevator to accommodate subway riders seeking access to the underground R train station at 86th Street are included in the MTA’s 2015-2019 Capital Plan. Eagle file photo by Paula Katinas

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Hopes are rising in Bay Ridge that a design contract will be awarded — and construction will begin soon afterward — on a long-awaited elevator at the 86th Street subway station.

“This has been much-awaited, and I’m confident it will happen,” Community Board 10 District Manager Josephine Beckmann told the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. “This is something the community really needs.

“We hear it all the time; that Board 10 is the only community board that does not have one handicap-accessible train station within its borders,” Beckmann continued. “This is especially important because 86th Street is an intermodal hub that connects six bus lines to the R-train station. The closest handicap-accessible station is Bay Parkway on the D line, and that’s not in District 10.”

MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz confirmed that funding for the 86th Street R line-elevator is in the 2015-2019 capital budget, and that construction is scheduled to be completed in 2020. Previously published reports put the cost of the project at “nearly $29 million,” but Ortiz told the Eagle he couldn’t confirm or deny that until a contract had been awarded.

Beckmann noted, however, that an MTA crew had drilled test holes near the entrance to the 86th Street station earlier this year, and said she was “confident” the awarding of the design contract would be coming soon.