page_title: BMT Fourth Avenue Line
section_title: Expansion
hierarchical_section_title: BMT Fourth Avenue Line / History / Early years / Expansion
caption_attribution_description: English: A 1912 schematic detailing plans to connect the BMT Fourth Avenue Line to the North and Main Lines of the Staten Island Railroad.
context_page_description: The BMT Fourth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line of the New York City Subway, mainly running under Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. The line is served by the D, N, and R at all times, and a few rush-hour W trains. The R and W run local while the D and N run express at all times except late nights, when they run local. The line was originally built by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company and is now internally operated as part of the New York City Subway's B Division.
  The fully underground line starts as a two-track line in Downtown Brooklyn west of Court Street, connecting to the BMT Broadway Line and BMT Nassau Street Line in Manhattan via the Montague Street Tunnel under the East River. It travels east under Montague and Willoughby Streets to DeKalb Avenue, where it then turns southeast under Flatbush Avenue. At DeKalb Avenue, the express tracks, which continue from the Manhattan Bridge to the northwest, split off from the BMT Brighton Line and join the Fourth Avenue Line. At Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center, the line curves southwest under Fourth Avenue to the end of the line at Bay Ridge–95th Street.
context_section_description: The line opened from 59th Street to 86th Street on January 15, 1916. Trains from 86th Street ran to Chambers Street in Manhattan via the Fourth Avenue Line local tracks. On this date, the express tracks opened for service, with Sea Beach Line trains running express between 59th Street and Chambers Street at all times except late nights, when they ran local.
  Even though the contract was approved for the Montague Street Tunnel, and the subway line connecting to it, in 1916, it was decided to add an infill station at Lawrence Street and Willoughby Street. In 1917, the original contract was modified and a provision for the station was added. Work started in October 1917, but construction halted on May 18, 1918, because of a wartime shortage of materials and men due to World War I, and about half the station was completed. Service running through the Montague Tunnel and this station began on August 1, 1920, while the station was being construction alongside in-service trains. The line was called the Montague Street Tunnel Line.
  Construction resumed on May 18, 1922, and entailed the construction of an island platform between the two cast iron-lined tunnels, a mezzanine, and a station entrance, which required excavation from the street. On June 11, 1924, the Lawrence Street station opened with the Lawrence Street entrances; the Bridge Street entrances opened later. A special train to Prospect Park operated for the station's opening. A unique feature at the west end of the station was a folding platform edge that was necessary to clear a crossover switch that was partially underneath the platform.
  On August 25, 1922, the Transit Commission directed its chief engineer, Robert Ridgeway, to plan an extension of the Fourth Avenue Line from 87th Street to Fort Hamilton. Initially, multiple stations along the extension were considered. This extension was to be the first part of an extension to Staten Island through a tunnel under The Narrows. On September 12, 1922, a meeting was held by the Transit Commission to determine whether a stop at 91st Street should be included as part of the planned extension. Ultimately, no station was built at 91st Street. At the meeting it was decided that money for an additional station in between 86th Street and the new terminal at 95th Street would be better spent on an extensive terminal with entrances at 93rd, 94th, and 95th Streets. On November 15, 1922, a report by the Chief Engineer recommended changing the plans of the Fourth Avenue Extension to provide for a third track between the 86th Street and 95th Street stations for train storage. The change was approved by the Transit Commission on November 22. Other extensions were also planned in 1922: a branch of the line running via 86th Street to 18th Avenue to connect with the New Utrecht Line to Coney Island, Route 19, and the future Tenth Avenue subway, and a branch of the line at 67th Street heading to Staten Island, Route 20.
  On December 28, 1922, the Transit Commission announced that it had awarded the contract for the construction of a half-mile extension of the Fourth Avenue Line, Contract 11B, to T. A. Gillespie Company for $1.5 million. However, as the Board of Estimate failed to take action upon it, the contractor withdrew its bid on March 7, 1923. The Transit Commission blamed the Board of Estimate for delays in the awarding of the contract; the Commission said that the city would suffer a substantial loss due to increased construction costs, and because the contract that was given was "highly advantageous to the city." As part of Contract 11B, the extension was built with two tracks, with the exception of a short three-track stretch just north of the terminal at 95th Street. The extension was to be built with a provision to extend the line to Staten Island. As a result of a motion made by Commissioner LeRoy Harkness in front of the Transit Commission, the contract was set to be put back up for bid. On November 2, 1923, the Board of Estimate approved the contract for the line with T. A. Gillespie Company, the same contractor that had bid 
caption: This proposed Staten Island Tunnel would have branched off at 66th Street.
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