Contractors have completed all substantial track and ventilation shaft construction for the subway tunnel that will allow Queens Boulevard lines to use the 63rd Street Tunnel, NYC Transit representatives reported at an MTA board Transit Committee meeting last week. However, the connection will not open until a large-scale signal system is fully installed, probably in Sept. 2001.

The new tunnel branches off the Queens Boulevard lines at 41st Avenue, bypassing the busy Queens Plaza stops, to 21st Street where Q service (at present, a temporary shuttle service) now terminates. The agency maintains that no decisions on service expansions have yet been made, though the NYC Transit speakers assured listeners that express and local services from Queens will continue to run through both the 54th and 63rd St. tunnels.

The $645 million 63rd St. Connection will be the NYC system's largest system expansion in recent memory, but critics say it is unlikely to fill capacity needs. The crowded E/F express line is already running close to 2-minute head-ways during AM rush hours, leaving no room for added trains with or without a new route to Manhattan. Advocates like the Committee for Better Transit's Stephen Dobrow are skeptical that the additional local service the tunnel connector makes possible will ease the crush. According to Dobrow, relatively uncrowded morning local R-trains draw few express riders even now.

The MTA's LIRR East Side Access holds greater promise as a long-term solution for Queens, if the railroad uses the additional track space in part to expand infrequent Queens service. A recent study by NYC Public Advocate Mark Green found that Queens and Brooklyn LIRR riders pay more than their suburban counterparts for similar distance trips (MTR #257). Some commuters now on sardine-can Queens Boulevard expresses might ride the LIRR from stops like Forest Hills if offered more convenient service at a fair price.