The elevated Castle Hill Avenue and Middletown Road Stations in the East Bronx have re-opened to customer service after completion of an extensive station improvement job, part of a $109 million project to make major upgrades to five
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Line stations originally opened in 1920. Castle Hill Avenue and Middletown Road were re-opened on Sunday, May 4, after a seven-month closure.
A ribbon-cutting event was held late Friday morning, attended by New York City Transit President Carmen Bianco and local elected officials.
“Governor Cuomo’s leadership has helped provide funding for the MTA’s Capital Plan, which helps fuel our station renewal program, here in the Bronx and throughout our system,” said Bianco. “The completion of work at Castle Hill Avenue and the other four stations will provide a welcoming atmosphere for our customers as they enter the system or step off their trains.”
Four of the five stations -- Castle Hill Ave., Middletown Rd., Buhre Ave. and Zerega Ave. – are slated for renewals while the terminal at Pelham Bay Park receives component improvements, work that did not necessitate a closure. The project is being performed by Yonkers Contracting Company.
Castle Hill Avenue and Middletown Road stations were both closed for seven months back on October 5, 2013. During that time, customers were able to take advantage of free shuttle bus service while the work was underway. As is customary on NYC Transit construction projects, the division of Government Affairs and Community Relations addressed the concerns of the community while keeping local elected officials and business owners informed.
The station work features the installation of new floors, walls, mezzanine, street and platform stairs, platform canopies, station lighting.
Work also included:
- Replacement of the platform and street canopy roofs and track beds
- Installation of a new platform edges, tactile warning strips and ADA boarding area
- Station painting
- Installation of a pigeon deterrent system
- Full structural steel replacement (Castle Hill Avenue station only)
- MTA Arts for Transit: Both stations installation are sculptural metal panels
Castle Hill Avenue: Bronx: Heart, Homeland by Priscila De Carvalho
Middletown Road: Cross-Bronx Waterway by Amanda Schachter and Alexander Lev
The new artwork will be installed in frames along the platform windscreens at each station in June. At Castle Hill Av, sculptural metal panels titled “Bronx: Heart, Homeland” by Priscila de Carvalho is a narrative of everyday life in the neighborhood. At the Middletown Rd station, sculptural steel panels titled “Cross-Bronx Waterway,” by Amanda Schachter and Alexander Levi of SLO Architecture, show the journey of the 6 line as it weaves through the neighborhood, and the Bronx River, using metal ribbon work to evoke water ripples in the river that is home to various forms of wildlife depicted in the artwork.
The bird deterrent system and the installation of the artwork will be completed after the re-opening of the stations.
This station project is the most recent in a string of improvements jobs targeting No. 6 Line stations in the Bronx. Previously, the stations at Whitlock Avenue, Elder Avenue, Morrison Avenue-Soundview, St. Lawrence Avenue, and Parkchester were recently upgraded structurally and aesthetically.
