Avenue H Station On Q Line Now Fully Accessibile

MIDWOOD, BROOKLYN — The historic Avenue H Station on the Q Line on the border of Midwood and Flatbush is now fully accessible with the completion of several upgrades to make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

They include a new ramp on the Manhattan-bound side and enhanced turnstiles and gates. The project—which cost $18 million, including $12.2 million for construction—is the first ADA project from the 2020-24 Capital Plan to be completed.

"Today, we're proud to open a new ramp on the east side of the station, along with a new, accessible path to the existing southbound ramp," said Quemuel Arroyo, MTA Chief Accessibility Officer, at Thursday's press conference. "Ramps are fail-proof and I hope to see more of them throughout our entire network."

This is the 14th station that is accessible via ramps, Arroyo said at the press conference.

The new ADA-compliant upgrades are:

• New ADA ramp (leads to new turnstile area for access to the platform)
• New control house for the ADA ramp
• ADA path to the existing southbound platform ramp
• ADA enhanced turnstiles and gates
• Improved ADA path at street level

A new underpass for an accessible path leading to the previously existing ramp to the southbound platform was also created improving customer flow and station environment.

"It involved retrofitting infrastructure that is more than 100 years old," said Barney Gray, Program CEO of Stations at MTA C&D. Gray oversees the Capital Plan's accessibility projects.

Avenue H Station opened more than 100 years ago in 1907 as part of the BMT Brighton Line. The station house serving the northbound platform was designated as a New York City landmark in 2004.

Average weekday ridership of Avenue H Station in 2019 was 1,161 customers, according to the MTA.

"This is the first ramp opening that I've been to," said Victor Calise, MTA Board Member and Commissioner of NYC Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities.

"Ramps are bridges to accessibility and we need more and more of them. As an MTA board member, I will continue to push and advocate for accessibility and we will bridge everything that we can from elevators to ramps and everything in between."

Other Avenue H station project components include:

• Sidewalk/street work to connect east to west side station via underpass
• New landscaping (green street work) on east side next to ramp and next to platform walls on the west side
• New lighting on the new turnstile area, ramp and existing staircases
• Five new cameras on new turnstile area interconnected with existing CCTV system
• Fire alarm upgrade and strobes, smoke/heat detectors and tamper switch incorporated with existing fire alarm system
• Water main replacement on west side ramp and gas main replacement on both east and west side and underpass for new ADA-compliant ramp
• Two new speakers incorporated with the existing PA System

Most recently, the MTA has completed accessibility projects at the 57 St station in Midtown, the Gun Hill Road station in the Bronx and the Manhattan side of the Court Sq-23 St station in Queens.

Related

• Midtown Subway Station Finally Accessible To Disabled

To see all ADA-accessible stations in the New York City Subway and the Staten Island Railway, check out this list.

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