mid-1950s, the extreme outside tracks in each direction hosted the Fourth Avenue Line local tracks and the next pair hosted the Brighton Line. The middle tracks, which bypassed the station, hosted the Fourth Avenue express tracks. A group of level crossovers at the northern end of the station allowed all tracks access to both sides of the Manhattan Bridge and to the Montague Street Tunnel. The Fourth Avenue local tracks led straight onto the Manhattan Bridge west of the station, while the Brighton line tracks led straight to the Montague Street Tunnel, so the crossovers allowed trains from both lines to switch between the bridge and the tunnel. This led to so many train delays on the Fourth Avenue and Brighton lines that in 1952, the junction was earmarked for "top priority" reconstruction. On November 30, 1955, the New York City Transit Authority sent a recommendation to the Board of Estimate for the approval of a $13,152,831 contract to eliminate the bottleneck. The elimination of the bottleneck was the first step in a larger plan to improve transit service between Brooklyn and Manhattan. During the reconstruction of the junction that started in 1956 and was completed by April 1961, the Brighton Line tracks were connected to the DeKalb Avenue station's outermost tracks. A diamond crossover north of the station had caused frequent bottlenecks, but was removed during the realignment and replaced with two flying junctions. All switches immediately north of the station were eliminated. The junction towards the Manhattan Bridge was rebuilt. To make room for a new flying junction, the Myrtle Avenue station was closed. That station's northbound platform remains visible from passing trains, but the southbound platform was demolished to accommodate the new flying junction that replaced the diamond crossover. Platforms were also doubled in length to accommodate ten-car trains of cars. It was estimated that the reconstruction of the junction increased the junction's train capacity by 25%. The Chrystie Street Connection project was also tied to this improvement, as it resulted in more trains using the bridge, as well as connecting trains to the IND Sixth Avenue Line (and thus, to IND lines to the Bronx and Queens). Over the years, as more of the business community migrated to Midtown Manhattan, the slower tunnel route via Lower Manhattan became less popular, and it is now the least used of the three northbound routing options. Station overhauls After