The Long Island Rail Road’s (LIRR) newly rebuilt Nostrand Avenue station has reopened, with the two-track elevated station featuring two new ADA-accessible elevators, platform canopies, new tactile warning strips on both platforms and a new art glass installation created by a local artist.
Construction on the project began in 2017 and cost $28.1 million.
The station, which is located on Nostrand and Atlantic Avenues in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, was built in 1977 and serves approximately 1,217 weekday riders. It is part of the City Zone Branch with direct access to Jamaica Station going east and Atlantic Terminal going west.
“The LIRR is laser-focused on making our system fully accessible, and Nostrand Avenue is the latest example of how we’re getting it done,” said LIRR President Phillip Eng. “The two new ADA-accessible elevators will not only help customers with disabilities but also moms with strollers and others with mobility challenges. The new digital information boards and tactile warning strips are another way we are providing our customers with the amenities they need and deserve."
Out of the LIRR’s 124 stations, 85 percent, or 106 stations, are accessible, including Nostrand Avenue. There will soon be two more accessible stations as elevators are currently being installed at Murray Hill and Floral Park Stations.
The new elevators are located each on the eastbound and westbound platforms which also have new, yellow tactile warning strips. There are also four new staircases, two at each platform. Both platforms are Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP), which is lighter than concrete and more resistant to salt, making it less susceptible to the effects of weathering and degradation in severe environments.
Technological advances at the station include digital information displays which enable LIRR to target messages concerning Nostrand Avenue station and to communicate with passengers about train departures and connections for travel. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Help Points will be installed this spring, putting customers in touch with LIRR personnel via an interactive communications device.
MTA Arts & Design commissioned multidisciplinary artist Derrick Adams, who has a studio just blocks from the station, to create Around the Way. The laminated glass artwork consists of 85 panels that span the length of the newly rehabilitated platforms and extend on to the four new pedestrian bridges.
LIRR says Around the Way emphasizes the symbiotic relationship between neighborhood residents and their built environment. Recognizable street configurations include the train winding through the scene. Trees dot the sidewalks and street corners of this cityscape and, unexpectedly, sprout from the palms of the figures, symbolizing the importance of nature in the city and its cycles of growth, renewal, and sustainability.
"An investment in stations is an investment in riders, and we're pleased to see these important improvements at Nostrand Avenue,” said Mark Epstein, chair of the LIRR Commuter Council. “New elevators, canopies, tactile striping and art should make this station more attractive to the more than twelve hundred daily riders - and hopefully attract more. The Long Island Rail Road Commuter Council looks forward to continuing to work with the railroad to improve the ride across the system.”
The rehabilitated Nostrand Avenue Station is part of a broader effort to modernize LIRR rail stations and contribute to the economic development of the region.
