170 Street
170 Street is another Concourse Line subway station where the subway line crosses above a nearby street, in a box above a street underpass. This street is 170 Street and at one time there were exits directly to both sides of the underpass open to the public when streetcars and later buses stopped in the underpass. Once these buses (today's Bx11) were relocated to the ramps/local roadways of 170 Street and crossing the Grand Concourse via the street and not the underpass, these exit staircases were abandoned. The sidewalks of the underpass are still open to the public and some abandoned remains of the surface transportation stops are still visible.
The station has the yellow color scheme with a two tile wide yellow trimline that has a narrow black boarder. The name tablets say 170 St. and are simply white text on black with no border. Name tablets at IND stations without a border are extremely unusual and the only other stop with them is this stations sister station 167 Street. The platform and mezzanine area columns are yellow. The white tiles that line the station are unusual since they are brick shaped and not normal square subway tile shaped.
The namesake exit to 170 Street has two fare control areas directly on each platform at their southern ends. The Manhattan-bound platform includes regular turnstiles and High Entrance/Exit Turnstiles before streetstairs lead up to the NW and SW corners of the 170 Street local roadway (that crosses the Grand Concourse at a traffic Light). There are two additional, closed fenced off staircases that lead downward to each sidewalk of the 170 Street underpass where streetcar stops and later bus stops once were before being moved to the surface (increasing bus travel times, but making the stops feel safer, no longer in a dark underpass). The Uptown platform's fare control area is Exit Only, with only High Exit Turnstiles, there are two additional closed staircases down to the underpass, but only one still open exit only streetstair up to the SE corner of 170 Street's local roadway and the Grand Concourse.
The full-time and staffed entrance to the station is at nearly the northern end of the station. Here two staircases lead up from each platform to a small mezzanine area above the tracks where the station’s only free crossover is. Here turnstiles lead out in front of a token booth to short passageways on each side and streetstairs that require intermediate steps up to the NE and NW corners of the Grand Concourse and 171 Street.
Photos 1-5: July 29, 2004; 6-14: January 6, 2011; 15-35: January 7, 2011
