Sunnyside Yards Pedestrian Connection Study

Queens, NY

EE&K and Weidlinger Associates, a joint venture, was asked by the MTA to undertake a study and provide conceptual designs to examine and develop pedestrian connections between the existing Queens Plaza and Queensboro Plaza subway stations and the future Long Island Rail Road Station planned for Long Island City.

Within the study, the joint venture explored how existing infrastructure could be leveraged to improve the environment for development, identified possible sites and recorded designs for new LIRR stations, and created pedestrian connections between the LIRR, other nearby transit, and the adjacent neighborhoods. Transforming this intertwined network of transit infrastructure required close collaboration with a broad base of constituents, including city and state transit departments and public agencies.

The plan envisions a new transit-oriented downtown for Long Island City that will fully realize the City’s recent upzoning of the area. The focus is on the new station and a major public space at Queens Plaza, which transforms one of the most chaotic places in the city and leverages the city’s preexisting investment in transit to catalyze a potential 12 million square feet of new development.

The plan skillfully weaves together a network of a pedestrian bridge, decks and subway stations to provide new pedestrian routes along the nearly 2,200 linear feet between the new station and the Queensboro Plaza subway station. The new access will make the vast infrastructure of Sunnyside Yards an accessible and integrated transit amenity for this emerging new business district.