Avenue–138th Street on August 1, 1918. The cost of the extension from Grand Central was $58 million. The construction and opening of the Lexington Avenue Line north of Grand Central resulted in the construction of expensive apartments along Park Avenue, Madison Avenue, and Lexington Avenue. Improvements In 1928, the New York City Board of Transportation proposed to extend platforms at all stations between Brooklyn Bridge and Grand Central, except for 33rd Street. On April 13, 1948, the platform extensions to accommodate ten-car trains at 23rd Street, 28th Street, and 33rd Street were opened for use. In 1949, the southbound platforms at Astor Place, Bleecker Street, Spring Street, Canal Street, and Worth Street were extended. In 1957, the New York City Transit Authority started work on a $138 million modernization program for the Lexington Avenue Line to improve and speed up service. As part of the project, platforms on the line were extended, express platforms were built at 59th Street, additional entrances were constructed at some stations, and the line's signal system and interlockings were modernized. Work on the reconstruction of the Brooklyn Bridge station started on May 18, 1959 and continued without interruption until it was completed on September 1, 1962. Prior to the rebuild, the station's local platform could only accommodate four cars, resulting in delays. The uptown platform's extension opened at this time (the downtown platform was lengthened in 1961) as the platforms were lengthened, widened, and straightened. Originally, the island platforms narrowed at their northern ends to an unsafe width of only five feet. The project remedied this situation, lengthening the platforms from to and widening them. The platforms were extended northward by to just south of Reade Street. In addition, a new exit was provided at Reade Street and Lafayette Street and a new passageway under Reade Street was built connecting to the Chambers Street station on the BMT Nassau Street Line. At the center of the enlarged platforms, a new overhead passage was built, providing more direct access to the Municipal Building. The platform extensions allowed the old platform extensions at the southern end of the station, which were used for express service, to be abandoned. These platform extensions had necessitated the use of gap fillers. This project cost $6 million, and allowed 6 trains to be lengthened to nine cars, and allowed express trains to open all doors at the station (previously the doors