MTA New York City Transit today announced that the Chambers St  subway station complex, which provides a free transfer to and from the Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall  station, will undergo a project starting this summer to add two elevators and other improvements.  

The project will make the 103-year-old Chambers St station fully wheelchair accessible by providing elevator access from the street to both  platforms and by modifying existing infrastructure like ramps and platform edges to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. Two platform elevators and three new ADA-compliant ramps will be installed in the station mezzanine.

“Improving accessibility is one of my top four priorities, as I laid out in detail in the release of our Fast Forward Plan to completely modernize New York City Transit,” said NYC Transit President Andy Byford.  “This accessibility project is a huge win for anyone who uses a wheelchair or a stroller, or would for any reason benefit from the addition of elevators and other ADA features at this busy hub serving more than 30,000 customers a day.”

The work related to this project includes creating an accessible ramp for wheelchair users from the street elevator in the Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall station to the Chambers St mezzanine, and adding two more accessible ramps leading to the  platform elevators. Platforms will be modified to reduce gaps between platform edges and trains, and a new pedestrian bridge across the  tracks within the station will provide easier access to both platforms. The existing turnstile area will be reconfigured to a wheelchair-friendly height with a powered gate.

To accommodate the ramps, new stairs, the pedestrian bridge, the new elevators and their electrical components, parts of the mezzanine and existing station facilities will need to be removed or reconfigured. Some lighting in the station will be replaced with brighter, more energy-efficient LED lighting, and the station will get new paint. Despite the extensive work that will be performed at the station during this 24-month project, the entire station complex will remain open to subway service.

When work will be performed on track areas at Chambers St, subway service will be available in one direction at a time to give crews safe and unfettered track access. These service changes will be limited to select weekends and overnight hours, and customers will be able to back-ride to Chambers St in the other direction. Signage will be posted, and community outreach and announcements will be done ahead of such service changes to allow customers to plan ahead.

The contract award for this project is planned for August, after which time the construction start date and cost will become available.  Language incentivizing early completion and allowing NYC Transit to recover damages for project delay will be included in the contract.

Additional station repairs and enhancements, including major water mitigation work and infrastructure improvements to platforms, floors and columns, are being planned for the Chambers St  station in the future. NYC Transit is undergoing a review of the station to determine the scope of that work.