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The 63rd Street Tunnel currently carries the IND 63rd Street Line of the New York City Subway under the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Queens. It is the newest of the East River tunnels, and the newest river crossing in the New York metropolitan area. Construction began in the late 1960s; the final section, connecting what had been a service dead-ending in Long Island City to the IND Queens Boulevard Line, opened in 2001. Unlike previous tunnels that were bored under the riverbed, the 63rd Street Tunnel's river portions used the immersed tube method. Trenches were built in the river bed, and prefabricated concrete sections of tunnel were floated into position and then sunk into the trenches. Other portions of the tunnel were built using cut-and-cover construction. The tunnel also serves a station at Roosevelt Island, as well as a station under Lexington Avenue, which will serve as a transfer point to the BMT Broadway Line (current plans are to extend the Q train) when the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway opens for service.
The tunnel has two levels. Currently, the F service uses the upper level, connecting the IND Queens Boulevard Line in Queens to the IND Sixth Avenue Line in Manhattan via the IND 63rd Street Line. There is also an unused connection to the BMT Broadway Line. The lower level is currently unused, but is designed for the Long Island Rail Road East Side Access project, which will bring LIRR commuter trains to Grand Central Terminal by 2012.
