MTA Moving to Fix Other Train Lines Ahead of L Train Shutdown
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Out-of-service subway trains are stored at the Broadway Junction yard in the Brooklyn. The transit hub serves the A, C, J, L and Z subway lines. AP Photo by Mark Lennihan.
By Christina Carrega
The MTA is pushing to accelerate weekend plans to improve the J, M and Z subway train lines and their stations this winter before the April 2019 L train tunnel reconstruction plans kick off.
On Tuesday, the MTA announced their schedule for the subway lines that will be heavily used as alternate service.
“We’re working hard to be ready for when the l line runs as a Brooklyn-only service while we reconstruct its under-river tunnel next year,” said Andy Byford, president of the MTA Transit Authority. “To make sure our alternate service will be as reliable possible before the project starts, we’re doing accelerated work now on those subway lines and stations that will absorb customers going to and from Manhattan.”
Service changes for the J, M and Z lines will occur on the following weekends begin at approximately 9:45 p.m. on Fridays to 5 a.m. on Mondays:
November 23 to 26:
J trains operate between Hewes St and Jamaica Center.
M service is suspended.
Free shuttle buses provide alternate service between Essex Street and Metropolitan Avenue in two routes:
between Essex Street and Hewes Street
between Essex Street and Metropolitan Avenue
November 30 to December 3:
J trains operate between Hewes Steet and Jamaica Center.
M trains operate between Metropolitan Avenue and Myrtle Avenue
Free shuttle buses provide alternate service between Essex Street and Hewes Street
December 7 to 10:
J trains operate between Hewes Street and Jamaica Center
M service is suspended.
Free shuttle buses provide alternate service between Essex Street and Metropolitan Avenue in two routes:
between Essex Street and Hewes Street
between Essex Street and Metropolitan Avenue
December 14 to 17, 21 to 24, 28 to 31, and January 4 to 7, 2019:
M service is suspended.
Free shuttle buses provide alternate service between Essex Street and Metropolitan Avenue
January 11 to 14, 18 to 21, 25 to 28:
J trains operate between Myrtle Avenue and Jamaica Center.
M service is suspended.
Free shuttle buses provide alternate service between Essex Street and Metropolitan Avenue in two routes:
between Essex Street and Myrtle Avenue
between Essex Street and Metropolitan Avenue
Signage will be posted and announcements will be made at affected stations to provide exact start and end times of service, as well as details of the alternate service, the agency said.
The tunnel that will be under construction was one of nine other underwater tunnels that flooded during Superstorm Sandy in 2012, all of which required extensive rehabilitation and repair.
Straphangers who travel to and from Brooklyn and Manhattan on the L line have the alternative route of the J, M, and Z lines that service Downtown Jamaica, Ridgewood, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Williamsburg that travel into Manhattan using the Williamsburg Bridge.
The L train will become a Brooklyn-only line.
Additionally, NYC Transit is making capacity improvements at stations along the J, M and Z lines, such as projects to widen stairs, turnstile areas or points of entrance/exit and transfer. A project to double capacity recently completed at Hewes Street with a reopened staircase and more turnstiles.
To accelerate construction for station improvements at Marcy Avenue J,M and Z and track work, crews will require total track or station access on select weekends in November and December.
