the station. The station was overcrowded as it served as a major transfer point for buses heading to areas throughout Eastern Queens. In February 1941, contractors started work on construction two additional staircases at the 169th Street station on each of the eastern corners at 168th Street and Hillside Avenue for $15,500. As a result, on January 30, 1941, Councilman James A. Burke proposed extending the line one stop to a temporary station at 178th Street to the Transit Commission at a conference on the issue of slow bus service. Under his proposal, 169th Street station would continue to be used by riders on buses from Laurelton, Rosedale, Springfield, and from areas to the north of the station, while the 178th Street station would be patronized by riders from Hollis, Bellerose and Queens Village. Burke stated that the plan would cost $100,000 and would not require additional trackage or tunneling. In response to the proposal, BOT engineers analyzed the feasibility of such an extension. They determined that the line would have to be extended between to under Hillside Avenue to store and switch trains, that it would cost at least $2 million, which the city did not have, and would take between 2 and 3 years. Burke had also proposed two other alternative actions to the Transit Commission: the construction of a bus terminal at the northeast corner of Hillside Avenue and 168th Street, and the construction of a pedestrian tunnel between the 169th Street subway station at Merrick Road to the bus terminal on that street. The BOT engineers determined that it would cost $150,000. Burke had met with Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and asked him to create a committee to study the matter. The Mayor refused and suggested that a station be built between 175th Street and 178th Street to be used for exiting only during the evening rush hour. The Transit Commission recommended Burke's proposed extension to the BOT, which they estimated would cost $150,000, and stated that a BOT drawing dated December 30, 1935, had indicated such a temporary station. The construction of an extension was planned in 1940, and was ready to bid on in 1942 when it was delayed by World War II. Therefore, the line was going to be extended to 184th Place with a station at 179th Street with two island platforms, sufficient entrances and exits, and storage for four ten-car trains. The