The MTA included $40 million within the LIRR’s $380 million 2015 – 2019 Capital Stations Program to support reopening the station.
The original station was built on street level going across Broadway past Whitney Avenue. The station had a platform and pedestrian underpass near the corner of Ketcham Place and 43rd Avenue to 88th Street.
There was also an entrance to the Port Washington-bound platform near the corner of Cornish Avenue and Broadway along with a tunnel leading to the Elmhurst Avenue subway station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line. This subway station is currently served by both the M & R lines.
Reopening the old station involved first spending $4 million in 2016 for planning, environmental review, preliminary and final design activities. This would have been followed by the initiation of construction in 2018 for $36 million. The new station was anticipated to be opened by the end of 2019.
The scope of work needed to reopen the station includes new 12 -car platforms, staircases, railings, passenger shelters, ticket vending machines, lighting. communication, signal and security equipment, general site improvements and passenger elevators to be fully compliant with the Americans Disability Act. Since the construction contract was never awarded. we don’t know if the engineers’ cost estimate of needing $36 million was sufficient to cover all of the above, including elevators.