and the existing 33rd and 42nd Street stations to southbound-only use. The northbound and southbound stations at 33rd/34th and 42nd Streets would both have had two express tracks and one local track; the express tracks in either direction would have merged with each other north of 42nd Street and south of 30th Street. Joseph V. McKee wrote a letter to the IRT the next year, saying that overcrowding at the station during rush hours created life-threatening conditions. In response to McKee's complaint, the Transit Commission's chairman said the only ways to reduce overcrowding at the Grand Central–42nd Street station were to construct the "reservoir" stations or build a second subway line on Manhattan's east side. Although the "reservoir" plan was technically feasible, the $25 million projected cost was too high. In November 1929, the W. P. Chrysler Building Corporation reached an agreement with the Transit Commission to build an entrance from the subway station to the Chrysler Building between 42nd Street and 43rd Street. The IRT sued to block construction of the new entrance because it would cause crowding, but the New York City Board of Transportation pushed to allow the corridor anyway. Chrysler eventually built and paid for the building's subway entrance. Work on the new entrance started in March 1930, and it opened along with the Chrysler Building two months later. By then, the station had direct connections to 14 nearby buildings. As part of a pilot program, the IRT installed silencers on seven turnstiles at the station in April 1930; the Transit Commission authorized the IRT to install silencers on all of its turnstiles three months later. The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940. On February 12, 1946, work began to double the width of the passageway connecting the shuttle platforms and the main mezzanine over the Lexington Avenue Line platforms. As part of the work the wooden passenger walkway, which had an average width of was replaced by a wide passageway with concrete flooring. This walkway had been "temporary" when it was put into place in August 1918. The new -long passageway covered most of the trackways used by downtown trains of the Original Subway prior to 1918. The iron railings along the planked walkway were removed. The project cost $45,800 and was intended to ease congestion. As part of the project, the upper passageway was moved to within fare control