Two New Ways to Get Under Columbus Circle

Tag : Carving Equipment

Columbus Circle has seen enormous change since 2004: the opening of the Time Warner Center , the reconfiguration of the circle into a new public space, and the nearly completed conversion ofEdward Durell Stone’s 1964 “Lollipop Building”into the new home of the Museum of Arts and Design .

So the fanfare on Wednesday morning seemed justified when officialsof the Metropolitan Transportation Authority formally opened twonew stairway entrances on the northwest corner of Broadway and 60thStreet, leading into the station. Meanwhile, about 50 yards away, acentury-old entrance in the middle of a traffic island is scheduledto close to the public on July 28 for a renovation that is expectedto be completed by next May.

The two changes will have a subtle but noticeable effect on the69,000 commuters estimated to use the 59th Street-Columbus Circlestation — which opened in 1904 and expanded in 1932 —each day. The station, which serves the No. 1 line as well as theA, B, C and D lines, is in the midst of a $108 million renovation.

The project, which began in 2006 and is expected to be completednext year, is intended to improve the flow of passengers throughthe often-congested station. It involves the installation of a newelevator on the west side of Central Park West; other features toimprove access to the disabled; upgrades to communications,lighting and electrical systems; and even an art installation bythe artist Sol LeWitt, who died last year .

The new subway entrances are part of a “control area”that cost $14 million and involved carving into the solid Manhattanschist while delicately protecting a variety of crucial equipmentused by utilities, including 20-inch and 32-inch city water mains,a 20-inch Con Edison steam pipe, and numerous smaller electric, gasand fiber optic lines. The new entrances were built under concretedecking, which minimized the disruption to southbound traffic onBroadway.