Kings Highway
The Kings Highway Station is a Brighton Line Express stop with two island platforms for the four-track line. It was given a bit of a renovation in the late 1980s and has some unusual features, like bricks along all the platform staircases that lead down below, and lampposts that aren't standard at the extreme ends of both fairly narrow platforms where they’re not canopied. From 2009 to 2011 the station was renovated again to bring it up to more modern standards and removed most of these 1980s features, with now standard silver staircases, and regular white subway tile in the station house. This renovation most importantly installed two elevators, one down from each platform to the main Kings Highway station house, making the station step-free and fully ADA accessible.
During construction from 2009 through 2011 all trains stopped along one of the express tracks in one direction, for example during a June 2011 visit Manhattan-bound trains were stopping only on the express track (and bypassing Avenues M and H), and a temporary platform had been set up over the Coney Island-bound express track and trains are using that platform which is the only one open. This island platform configuration helped passengers going to Avenues M and H double back with a cross-platform transfer. One fascinating revealed piece of signage was visible on the Manhattan-bound platform with old D to 205 St, The Bronx via 6 Av Express, all times. This was the service before 2000, what probably happened was old signboards that covered the existing ones have been removed.
The station has three exits each with their own fare control area. Starting from the northern end of the station, the most northern station entrance is on the north side of Kings Highway beneath the subway tracks. Here three High Entrance/Exit Turnstiles are nestled directly along the street. There is also an MVM, alongside them right on the street. There are no doors of any kind to enter the subway system from here and a staircase leads up to each platform at their northern ends.
Next, there is a pair of staircases along with an elevator that leads down from each platform to the full-time exit. This exit is located in a proper station house at street level beneath the tracks that has a long bank of turnstiles that than in turn lead to sets of doors on the southern sidewalk of the main Kings Highway shopping district as it crosses beneath the subway tracks. From the northern staircases down from the Brighton/Coney Island-bound platform there is a separate High Exit Turnstile that allows exiting passengers to skip entering the main fare control area and exit directly to the street.
The final station entrance is towards the southern end of the platform across from where an eastern section of Quentin Road ends in a T-junction with East 16 Street. This subway entrance is also looks like a storefront, complete with an awning of old school cut outs of letters forming Subway. This subway entrance is open full time with a token booth and turnstiles open during the week, during the midnight hours and on weekends there's a High Entrance Turnstile for passengers to use. During station renovations, the High Entrance/Exit Turnstile was removed, along with the token booth in 2013, making this entrance unstaffed regular turnstiles at all times. To reach the tracks from this entrance a short flight of steps leads up to an intermediate landing with two staircases up to the Manhattan-bound platform and a short tunnel to two staircases up to the Brighton/Coney Island-bound platform.
At the southern end of the station is a building nestled above the platforms and express tracks, these are Signal Quarters, and are accessed by a non-public staircase at the southern end of the Brighton Beach/Coney Island-bound platform.
Photos 1-6: February 3, 2004; 7-25: August 13, 2008; 26-36: June 8, 2011; 37-48: November 30, 2011
Arts For Transit at Kings Highway
Kings Highway Hieroglyphs, 1987
By Rhoda Andors
Porcelain enamel at station entrances
Station Subway Lines (2000-2004)
