Uptown Subway Station Reopens After Year Of Construction: MTA

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS-INWOOD, NY — A Washington Heights subway station that shut down at the beginning of the year reopened a month ahead of schedule, MTA officials announced.

Service at the West 168th Street 1 train station resumed over the weekend following a successful replacement of the station's elevators that lead from the street to train platforms, New York City Transit President Andy Byford said. The construction project was supposed to wrap up in January.

"Replacing these elevators was absolutely essential. Reliable access to these ‘deep stations,’ is critical and I want to thank the community for working closely with us and remaining patient throughout the process," Byford said in a statement. "The brand new elevators were long overdue and I'm eager to continue full speed ahead on fixing the other elevators in the area in the months and years to come."

In addition to installing new elevators, the MTA restored the rear elevator exit at the mezzanine level of the station. The additional exit is expected to improve customer flow, MTA officials said.

The station had to be shut down during the construction project because elevators are the only way to access the platform. Elected officials had been calling for elevator fixes at the station since 2017 due to frequent breakdowns that would leave passengers stranded on platforms or trapped in elevators.

The MTA will replace and fix elevators at four other Uptown subway stations by 2022. The stations include: The 191st Street 1 station, the 190th Street A station, the 181st Street1 station and the 181st Street A station, where work began in August. Each of the projects is expected to take a year to complete, but only the 181st Street 1 train station will be shuttered during the work.