Q59 (New York City bus)

The Grand Street Line is a public transit line in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, running mostly along the continuous Grand Street and Grand Avenue between Williamsburg, Brooklyn and Maspeth, Queens. It then continues down Queens Boulevard to the 63rd Drive–Rego Park station. Originally a streetcar line, it is now the Q59 bus route, operated by the New York City Transit Authority between Williamsburg and Rego Park, Queens.

For additional information on the current bus service, see List of bus routes in Queens.

q59
Grand Street Line
A Q59 bus traveling along Queens Boulevard.
Overview
SystemMTA Regional Bus Operations
OperatorNew York City Transit Authority
GarageGrand Avenue Depot
VehicleNew Flyer Xcelsior XD40
New Flyer Xcelsior XDE40
Route
LocaleBrooklyn and Queens, New York, U.S.
Communities servedRego Park, Elmhurst, Maspeth, East Williamsburg, Williamsburg
Landmarks servedRego Center, Queens Center Mall, Queens Place Mall, Williamsburg Bridge Plaza Bus Terminal
StartWilliamsburg, Brooklyn – Williamsburg Bridge Plaza Bus Terminal
ViaGrand Street and Grand Avenue[1]
EndRego Park, Queens – Junction Boulevard & Horace Harding Expressway (Rego Center)
Length6.47 miles (10.41 km) (streetcar line)[2]
7.6 miles (12.2 km) (Q59)
Other routesQ58 Fresh Pond Road/Grand/Corona Avenues
Service
Operates24 hours[1]
Annual patronage1,629,007 (2022)[3]
TransfersYes
TimetableQ59
← Q58  {{{system_nav}}}  Q60 →

Route description

The Q59's western terminus is at the Williamsburg Bridge Plaza Bus Terminal in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. From there, it goes west on Broadway, turning right on Kent Avenue to travel north to Grand Street. However, since Grand Street is not continuous across the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway (BQE), the eastbound Q59 uses Roebling Street, Metropolitan Avenue, and Union Avenue to travel around the BQE.[1][4] At Grand Street, the Q59 turns left, continuing until Gardner Avenue and Metropolitan Avenue (since eastbound Grand Street curves onto Metropolitan Avenue after crossing the Newtown Creek).[4][5] The eastbound Q59 turns right onto Grand Street after a short distance, continuing across the Grand Street Bridge and into Maspeth until another discontinuity forces the Q59 to turn right and then left at Flushing Avenue, meeting up with the Q58.[5] It remains on Grand Avenue until Queens Boulevard, when it turns right while the Q58 goes to Corona Avenue to reach Flushing.[1][5] At Queens Boulevard, the Q59 turns right onto the eastbound service road. It continues along Queens Boulevard until Eliot Avenue, where it turns left along the Long Island Expressway. The Q59 turns right on Junction Boulevard and terminates at 62nd Road, near Rego Center and the 63rd Drive–Rego Park subway station in Rego Park.[1][5]

The westbound Q59 turns right off 62nd Road onto Queens Boulevard. At 90th Street, it makes a right to serve Queens Center and Queens Place Mall. This is so the Q59 can make a turn from the service road into the main road that would otherwise be illegal; it must do this in order to access the left-turn lane at Grand Avenue, which can only be served from the main road.[1][5] The Q59 turns left at 56th Avenue and then right again into the Queens Boulevard main road, using the left-turn lane to turn left onto Grand Avenue.[1][5] The Q59 continues down Grand Avenue until it turns into Grand Street,[1][5] and goes straight down Grand Street until it reaches Union Avenue, where it turns right to go around the BQE.[1][4] The Q59 makes a left at Metropolitan Avenue, a left at Roebling Street, and another right at Grand Street. It goes down Grand Street until Wythe Avenue, turning left there. At Broadway, the Q59 makes another left and continues until it enters the Williamsburg Bridge Plaza Bus Terminal.[1][4]

History

At various points in its history, the Grand Street Line has been served by horsecar, trolley, and bus, with service modifications implemented by New York City's mass-transit authorities in response to varying ridership levels (and associated revenues).

Railroad

Initial construction of the line, by the Grand Street and Newtown Rail Road, began in September 1860.[6] Its first section (from Williamsburg's Grand Street Ferry to Bushwick Avenue) was completed on October 15, 1860, with a public opening expected by the end of that month.[7] In addition to the Grand Street Ferry, cars soon also served the Broadway Ferry via the Brooklyn City Rail Road's Greenpoint Line trackage on Kent Avenue.[8] By 1865, the line had been extended from Grand Street north along Bushwick Avenue, Humboldt Street, and Meeker Avenue to Penny Bridge.[9] The tracks in Bushwick Avenue were removed after trains began using Humboldt Street instead of between Grand Street and Maspeth Avenue on July 19, 1870.[10]

The main line was later lengthened eastward from the intersection of Grand and Humboldt Streets, along the Grand Street extension. It opened to the city line (Newtown Creek) on June 9, 1875[11] and to Newtown on August 1, 1876.[12][13] The old line to Penny Bridge became the Meeker Avenue Line.

When the Maspeth Depot opened in 1885, the line was truncated to Maspeth. Service between Maspeth and Elmhurst became a shuttle (which later became a part of the Flushing–Ridgewood Line).

The Brooklyn City Rail Road leased the Grand Street and Newtown on May 1, 1890.[14][15]

Bus line

In 1949, the New York City Board of Transportation reacted to declining ridership by proposing the conversion of the line to a bus route. The New York City Board of Estimate approved the change on October 13, 1949,[16] and the streetcars were permanently removed on December 11, 1949.

An Orion VII bus on the Q59 route crossing the Grand Street Bridge.

On November 6, 1954, the NYCTA proposed to eliminate weekday service between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. and all weekend service to cut costs. Free transfers would have been provided between the B53 and B57.[17][18] In the fall of 1975, the bus route was extended from 72nd Street in Maspeth east to Elmhurst and southeast on Queens Boulevard to Junction Boulevard in Rego Park. On June 25, 1979, seven westbound trips from Rego Park were added between 10:30 p.m. and 1:36 a.m..[19] On December 11, 1988, the line was relabeled to its current identifier, the Q59.[20]

In January 2008, 24/7 service was added to the Q59 route.[21] In August 2009, southbound service was rerouted from Kent Avenue to Wythe Avenue due to the conversion of Kent Avenue to a one-way northbound street to restructure the bike lanes on that street.[22] Service was eventually extended to the Williamsburg Bridge Plaza Bus Terminal in 2010, and in September 2016, the eastern terminus of the route was relocated to 62nd Drive to avoid a hazardous U-turn at 63rd Road/63rd Drive, as well as provide a closer connection to Rego Center.[23]

In December 2019, the MTA released a draft redesign of the Queens bus network.[24][25] As part of the redesign, the Q59 bus would have been truncated to the Woodhaven Boulevard station.[26] The redesign was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City in 2020,[27] and the original draft plan was dropped due to negative feedback.[28] A revised plan was released in March 2022.[29] As part of the new plan, the Q59 would be realigned in Brooklyn to use Borinquen Place instead; the discontinued routing within Williamsburg would be covered by another route in a future Brooklyn bus redesign. At the eastern end, the route would be straightened out, which might include reinstating the U-turn at 63rd Road/63rd Drive.[30]

See also

References
  1. MTA Regional Bus Operations. "Q59 bus schedule".
  2. "Public Notices". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 19, 1949. p. 29. Retrieved December 26, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Facts and Figures". mta.info. August 28, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  4. "Brooklyn Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  5. "Queens Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. August 2022. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  6. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Began at Last, September 4, 1860, page 3
  7. "Completion of the Grand Street Railroad". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 16, 1860. p. 3. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  8. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, The Grand Street Railroad, October 31, 1860, page 3
  9. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Particulars About Our City Rail Roads, August 10, 1865, page 2
  10. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Change in the Grand Street Railroad Route, July 19, 1870, page 2
  11. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 9, 1875, page 4
  12. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, The Grand Street Railroad, August 1, 1876, page 4
  13. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Grand Street Railroad, August 2, 1876, page 4
  14. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Ratified the Lease, April 28, 1890, page 6
  15. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Takes Possession of the New Lines, May 1, 1890, page 6
  16. "Public Notices". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 10, 1949. p. 21. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  17. "Transit Authority Proposes Cut In Local Bus Service" (PDF). Queens Ledger. November 11, 1954. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  18. "'Brooklyn' Program Hits Queens: TA Slashes Service On Two Bus Lines" (PDF). Long Island Star-Journal. November 6, 1954. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  19. "Service Improvement.... B-59 Route Effective Monday, June 25". Fllickr. New York City Transit Authority. 1979. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  20. "Revised Bus Service In Queens: Introducing Great Connections to Archer Avenue Subway Extension". Fllickr. New York City Transit Authority. 1988. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  21. Naanes, Marlene (September 24, 2007). "Expanded bus service on tap". AM New York. Archived from the original on October 17, 2007. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  22. "Southbound Q59 Rerouted in Brooklyn". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 29, 2009. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  23. "Transit & Bus Committee Meeting" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 19, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  24. Acevedo, Angélica (December 17, 2019). "MTA gives 'sneak peek' of transformative Queens bus network redesign plan". QNS.com. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  25. "MTA Unveils Draft Proposal to Redesign Bus Network in Queens". Spectrum News NY1 | New York City. December 31, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  26. "Draft Plan, Queens Bus Network Redesign". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. December 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  27. "Queens bus network redesign remains on hold amid COVID-19 pandemic: MTA". QNS.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  28. Duggan, Kevin (December 15, 2021). "MTA to release 'totally redone' Queens bus network redesign draft in early 2022". amNewYork. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  29. Duggan, Kevin (March 29, 2022). "FIRST ON amNY: MTA reveals new Queens bus redesign draft plan". amNewYork. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  30. "Draft Plan, Queens Bus Network Redesign". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
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