If you have walked past the Junius Street station in East New York lately, those bright blue construction walls where the old stairs used to be are not just for show. The MTA says that fencing marks the official start of a full-on station overhaul, with elevators, lengthened platforms, a rebuilt mezzanine and a new pedestrian bridge that will finally connect the stop directly to the Livonia Avenue L station.
What Is Being Built
The agency lists Junius Street among the stations slated for accessibility upgrades and shows the work as already in active implementation, including platform components and new vertical circulation, according to the MTA. A 2020 MTA press release about the Livonia Avenue project described that work as a companion to the Junius upgrades and said the two jobs were packaged to include a permanent in-system connector between the elevated stations. The Livonia work added two new elevators and an above-platform passageway, which gives a preview of how the authority is coordinating the two sites.
How It Ties To Wider Plans
The Junius and Livonia rebuilds are being pitched as more than a local accessibility fix. Planners say they are being lined up to plug into cross-borough efforts such as the Interborough Express, which entered formal environmental review in late 2025, according to the Office of the Governor. In the IBX announcement, MTA Construction & Development President Jamie Torres-Springer said, “The IBX project will finally give Brooklyn and Queens the fast, reliable transit connection they deserve,” language that hints at how this seemingly small station work could dovetail with larger network changes.
What Riders Will Notice
For now, the part riders will feel most is the construction itself. The blue hoarding, fenced-off stairways and shifting pedestrian paths are the new normal as crews move in on the platforms. Local riders and rail watchers have been posting photos from the site as progress inches along, including Reddit shots that show the street-level setup.
Behind the scenes, the transfer situation is also set to change. A permanent free out-of-system MetroCard and OMNY transfer already links Junius and Livonia; the planned connector would swap that for an in-system transfer once the work wraps up, according to Wikipedia. Until then, expect scaffolding, temporary sidewalk detours and a lot of blue plywood as the overhaul continues.
