$15M In Accessible Upgrades Coming To Broadway Junction In BK

BROOKLYN, NY — Long-awaited upgrades for those with disabilities are on their way to Brooklyn's third-busiest transit hub thanks to a new federal grant, officials announced this week.

The $15 million in funding — known as a RAISE grant — will bring seven new elevators, a ramp, new stairs and other upgrades to the Broadway Junction station, which is not fully accessible despite its daily pre-pandemic ridership of more than 100,000 straphangers.

The funding was announced Monday by U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, who said he made a personal call to Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to ask for the funding.

"Projects like these are key to modernizing the system and making the subway more accessible for the riding public, including New York’s disabled community, which has long suffered from poor access to our region’s mass transit system,” Schumer said. “I worked hard to secure billions in the bipartisan infrastructure bill for RAISE grants so New York transit agencies can take on more projects like this one to help keep New Yorkers moving and keep our economy going strong."

The Broadway Junction project will make the transit hub fully compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act, including seven new elevators, elevator machine rooms, new stairs, platform modifications, ADA signage and a ramp, officials said.

Broadway Junction — which services the A, C, J, L and Z lines — is a major connector to bus and other commuter rails. To use it now, straphangers with disabilities are forced to travel more than a mile to find the nearest accessible station for a transfer.

The $15 million for Broadway Junction is a portion of $7.5 billion available in RAISE grants that were included in the recently-passed federal infrastructure bill, Schumer and Jeffries said. The lawmakers said they will push for the funding to go to more projects in New York City.

“This bill provides the largest single federal investment in infrastructure in the history of the Republic and will help make our mass transit systems accessible to every single American, including right here in New York City," Jeffries said.