Church Avenue
Church Avenue is the final underground station on the IND before it rises up on the Culver Incline to join the former BMT Culver Elevated. The stop was the southern terminus for all IND service in Brooklyn from 1933 until 1954 when the Culver Ramp opened connecting IND trains to Ditmars Avenue on the Culver Elevated. The station is also the end of the Culver Line being a 4 track express line with the line condensing to 3 tracks just before the next stop at Ditmars Avenue. The station is an express stop with two island platforms for the four track line. Just south of the station flying junctions lead down from both the express and local tracks to a four track underground train relay area and storage yard. This fairly well designed relay area (only problem is that terminating trains delay through trains while they are fumigated of passengers) wasn’t in use in regular service from 1976 until July 5, 2009 when the G train was extended to Church Avenue (again, it last ran in 1976) at all times. This was because track work and renovations on the Culver, (Gowanus Canal) viaduct put the pervious terminus at Smith 9th Street out of service. When the G trains terminated at Smith-9 Streets, trains were required to switch onto the express tracks to relay within but not stop at the 4th Avenue Station using the express tracks. In 2012 this extension was made permanent to give G train riders a one seat ride to Park Slope, Kensington, and the R train transfer at 4th Avenue. The station's trim is purple with church tiled beneath it at various intervals along the local tracks walls. The platform columns are all green.
The station itself was recently renovated and is now completely ADA compliant with three elevators opening on July 7, 2008. During this renovation the mezzanine was cut into two separate smaller mezzanines and is now non-continuous, there is also now a closed fenced off area to one side of both mezzanines that was a passageway outside of fare control connecting the two station entrances. At the extreme southern end of the station is the exit to Church Avenue; the closest staircases to the exit are at the extreme southern end of the platforms. This is where the station's only token booth is as well as full time fare control. There are staircases up to the northside of McDonald Avenue, just north of the intersection of Church Avenue and McDonald Avenue, along with the elevator up to the west side of McDonald Avenue (in the middle of the block) that requires an additional ramp on the mezzanine to access it. There is another tunnel of decent length extending away from the station's platforms, outside of fare control that leads to two streetstairs to the SE and SW corners of Church Avenue and McDonald Avenue. This exit has an open mezzanine of decent length as well as public restrooms within fare control. Two staircases lead down to each platforms. The two platform elevators are at the opposite end of this section of mezzanine from fare control, they are right at the new wall that has been built to divide the mezzanine into two for the Infrastructure Capital Construction Employee Faculty.
Towards (maybe the second car from it) northern end of the station is the fully unstaffed with simply high entrance/exit turnstiles exit to Albemarle Road it is located at the other end of what was once the station's full-length mezzanine. There is still a portion of the mezzanine open within fare control with three staircases down to each platform. This exit has staircases up to the SE and SW corners of Albemarle Road and McDonald Avenue.
Photos 1-12: June 6, 2007; 13-32: June 5, 2009; 33-38: July 6, 2009; 39-45: November 30, 2011
Station Subway Lines (until 2009)
