The plans for the Archer Avenue Lines emerged in the 1960s under the city and MTA's Program for Action. It was conceived as an expansion of IND Queens Boulevard Line service to a "Southeast Queens" line along the right-of-way of the Long Island Rail RoadAtlantic Branch towards Locust Manor, and as a replacement for the dilapidated eastern portions of the elevated BMT Jamaica Line within the Jamaica business district which business owners and residents sought removal of. Both lines would meet at the double-decked line under Archer Avenue. The two-track spur from the Queens Boulevard Line would use the original Van Wyck Boulevard bellmouths. The IND line was to continue as a two-track line along the LIRR Atlantic Branch. It would have run through Locust Manor and Laurelton stations, with stops at Sutphin Boulevard, Parsons Boulevard, Linden Boulevard, Baisley Boulevard, and Springfield Boulevard. Design on the station began on October 1, 1974 and was completed on August 18, 1982 by MLA/Brodsky. Construction on Section 7 of Route 131D, the Southeast Queens Line, which included the Jamaica–Van Wyck station started on October 17, 1979. At this point, the segment of the Archer Avenue Line under the Van Wyck Expressway had been completed. Bids for the station project were received on December 3, 1982, and the project was awarded to Carlin Construction & Development Corporation for $12.781 million. Work on the station began on December 15, 1982. The station opened along with the rest of the Archer Avenue Line on December 11, 1988. Because of the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis, the Archer Avenue Line was never fully built to Springfield Boulevard, and was instead truncated to Parsons Boulevard. The shortened version of the line contained three stations, including Jamaica–Van Wyck, and was long.
Station layout
This underground station has two tracks and a island platform. It serves as the replacement for the former Metropolitan Avenue and Queens Boulevard stations of the BMT Jamaica Line. The track walls are mostly orange. The mezzanine is suspended above the Jamaica-bound track via heavy cables linked to the station roof. On the Manhattan-bound side, the station walls contain spaces for windows that can allow natural sunlight in, but they are currently covered over. North of the station, the tracks lead trains to the IND Queens Boulevard Line, where they either switch to the line's local or express tracks depending on the time of day. This station has five escalators and two elevators.
Exits
The Jamaica–Van Wyck station has two entrances.
One entrance is at the southwest corner of Van Wyck Expressway and 89th Avenue near Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. This contains two escalators, an elevator, and one stair to the street level.
The other entrance is at Metropolitan Avenue and Jamaica Avenue, and contains one up-only escalator and a street stair. Two escalators and one staircase connect the platform with the mezzanine.
