198th Street, the road briefly moves east of the line. North of Bedford Park Boulevard station, Jerome Avenue returns under the line and between the intersections with East 205th Street and West 205th Street, a spur for the Jerome Yard branches off to the northwest as well. The IRT Jerome Avenue Line finally ends at Woodlawn, while Jerome Avenue itself continues north towards the Major Deegan Expressway. History Planning For more than two decades, there had been calls to provide transit service to the residents of the Western Bronx. When the first subway was being planned, a branch of the line to this area was under consideration, but it was not found to be feasible to build such a connection because of financial reasons. The Board of Rapid Transit Commissioners, on June 1, 1905, adopted three rapid transit routes: Numbers 15, 16, and 17, all with the purpose of serving the underserved western area of the borough. Route 15 would have been a four-track subway under Jerome Avenue, with a connection to the Ninth Avenue Elevated through 162nd Street. Route 16 called for a three-track elevated line along Jerome Avenue, extending from Clarke Place north to Woodlawn Road. Route 17 would have required the construction of a subway line under Gerard Avenue to form the southern connection to the Jerome Avenue Line. Of the three options, Route 15 was approved by the New York City Board of Estimate on July 14, 1905, and by Mayor George McClellan two weeks later. On June 16, 1908, the proposal to construct a subway under Gerard Avenue was abandoned because of the soil conditions, which made the project too expensive to be constructed at the time. Instead, the Commission adopted Route 23, known as the River Avenue route, which provided for an elevated railroad and subway connecting the Jerome Avenue elevated line with the Lexington Avenue Line. This route was utilized as part of the Jerome Avenue Line. The route was approved by the Board of Estimate on June 26, 1908, and by the Mayor four days later. Construction and opening The Dual Contracts, which were signed on March 19, 1913, were contracts for the construction and/or rehabilitation and operation of rapid transit lines in the City of New York. The contracts were "dual" in that they were signed between the City and two separate private companies (the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and the