With the construction of the Port Authority Bus Terminal, in September 1950, the Board of Transportation approved the construction of a ramp between the Eighth Avenue Line station and the bus terminal for $100,000. The IND's lower level was built together with the upper-level platforms but existed as an unfinished shell. The city approved a $300.000 renovation of the lower level in June 1952, and the lower level opened on August 25, 1952, to serve rush hour E trains. For most of its existence, the lower-level platform was only used for occasional service specials, including summer "Rockaway Special" trains to Beach 98th Street at the Rockaways' Playland beginning in 1958, the Aqueduct Racetrack special fare trains from 1959 to 1981, and rush hour E trains in the 1970s, beginning on March 23, 1970.
