MTA: 1 1/2-Year or 3-year Shutdown for L Train Repairs

NEW YORK— The lone subway tunnel connecting some of Brooklyn’s hippest, youngest neighborhoods to New York City’s commercial heart in Manhattan will either be closed entirely for 18 months, or see extremely limited service for three years, under two ...
MTA: 1 1/2-Year or 3-year Shutdown for L Train Repairs
An L train arrives at the Broadway Junction subway station in Brooklyn, New York, on Jan. 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
The Associated Press
5/5/2016
Updated:
5/7/2022

NEW YORK—The lone subway tunnel connecting some of Brooklyn’s hippest, youngest neighborhoods to New York City’s commercial heart in Manhattan will either be closed entirely for 18 months, or see extremely limited service for three years, under two possible plans for repairing damage caused by Superstorm Sandy.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the city’s subway system, is trying to decide which of the two potentially painful scenarios it will inflict on people who rely on the L train to get across the city’s East River. Work would start in 2019.

MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast said the project was “the most impactful capital construction project we’ve ever had to do.”

According to the MTA, the L line has the 10th highest ridership in the country. 

Canarsie Tunnel

The L train runs from Manhattan through the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Bushwick—fast-changing neighborhoods that have become magnets for young people, artists, musicians, and others who can no longer afford to live in ultra-pricey Manhattan. Farther reaches of the line serve some of Brooklyn’s poorest neighborhoods. 

Over 50,000 riders also use the line for cross-town trips in Manhattan each day, according to the MTA.

Ridership on the line has increased dramatically since 1990, almost tripling, with 400,000 rides on an average day. Of those rides, 225,000 are through the Canarsie Tube running under the East River. L trains currently travel through the tunnel 40 times per hour at peak times. 

Prendergast cautioned that the longer repairs are put off, the more likely a derailment is. While it is not a likelihood right now, the location of the line would make further damage disastrous.

“The worst place seems to be with a derailed train is an under-river tunnel. None of this is unsafe right now, but it does require a high level of inspection and maintenance,” Prendergast said.

That tube was badly damaged in 2012 by Sandy’s floodwaters.

Ticking Clock

Four years ago, Superstorm Sandy flooded nine of the city’s subway tunnels with salt water. Canarsie was “by far” the worst-damaged, Prendergast said according to WNYC.

Workers flushed out the saltwater in the 10 days following, but the salt remained and so the corrosion continues. 

The MTA site shows photos of corroded metal, crumbling duct banks, damaged circuit breakers, exposed cables. The agency would need to reinstall all new track and third rail, reconstruct the concrete duct bank, replace communication, power, and signal cables, repair the fire protection system, install new lighting, and make other repairs. 

The $800 million project is imperative against future weather events, further corroding, and, the MTA adds, a risk of losing the hundreds of millions in federal funding secured for needed repairs if service becomes unreliable and causes closures.

Repairs

The first proposal is a full stop of all service on both tracks, on the Manhattan portion of the line. It’s the shorter option, of 18 months. Service would continue in the section that runs through Brooklyn. The MTA would increase service capacity either by adding trains or cars to the M, J, G, A, and C trains. 

The other proposal would allow one track to remain in operation below the East River, but with significantly limited service for three years. New York City Transit head Ronnie Hakim told WNYC service would be cut by 80 percent, but the length of the work doubles ... to three years.”

The MTA would also run extra bus service over the Williamsburg Bridge and add shuttle buses to fill in the gaps. 

There will be full shutdowns on nights and weekends before 2019, for preparation work, in both cases. 

The MTA is holding a public hearing in Brooklyn on May 5, and another in Manhattan at the Salvation Army Theatre on May 12 at 6 p.m. MTA officials say the decision on which plan to go with will be made in two to three months.