Support Builds for Full L Train Shutdown

• Pictured: Nick Sifuentes, deputy director of Riders Alliance, speaks at Tuesday's press conference. Photo by John V. Santore

BROOKLYN, NY — At a Tuesday press conference, Riders Alliance, a public transportation advocacy group, and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer endorsed a full, 18-month shutdown of the L train while the Canarsie Tunnel beneath the East River is repaired.

Riders Alliance said it conducted a survey of residents living in each zip code the L train runs through.

About 350 individuals responded, of which 77 percent favored a full shutdown, the group said.

The majority of responses came from five zip codes (11222, 11211, 11249, 11237 and 11206) that cover Greenpoint, Williamsburg, and Flatbush, according to Nick Sifuentes, the deputy director of the Alliance.

Sifuentes said the group aims to expand its connection to other areas of Brooklyn to ensure it's advocating for them as well.

Thus far, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has outlined two repair options for the Tunnel, damaged badly by flooding during Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

A full shutdown would last 18 months, with trains running only between the Bedford Avenue station in Williamsburg and the Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway station in Canarsie, just south of Brownsville.

The second option would be a partial shutdown lasting three years. Under this plan, trains would run between Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway and Lorimer Street in Williamsburg, then share a track between the Bedford stop and the 8th Avenue station in Manhattan's East Village. The impact on L Train service during these three years would be huge, according to the MTA: Capacity on the under-repair stretch would be reduced to about one quarter of its current level.

In a letter sent Tuesday to MTA chairman Thomas Prendergast, the Alliance wrote that while "both options would be painful," the full closure is the best choice.

On Tuesday, Brewer, the Manhattan borough president, said she initially favored a partial shutdown, but came away from conversations with MTA officials favoring the full shutdown option.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams has yet to reveal which option he favors.

The full shutdown plan has also been backed by the Regional Plan Association, an NYC nonprofit that focuses on solving urban-planning challenges.

In a Tuesday statement, Tom Wright, the Association president, said the one-and-a-half-year shutdown "provides a rare opportunity to transform the L train to accommodate the ridership demands of the future."

MTA officials have said they will choose a course of action within the next few months.

The L Train has about 400,000 riders per day, according to the MTA.

Transit activists and elected officials have also stressed the importance of creating alternative transportation options for commuters who will be displaced by L Train construction.

At a public meeting hosted in Williamsburg earlier this month, the MTA discussed some of those options, including:

• Running a ferry from northern Williamsburg to 20th Street in Manhattan
• Increasing capacity on the M, G, A and C lines
• Sending a shuttle bus from Bedford Avenue to Marcy Avenue, then over the Williamsburg Bridge to Delancey Street.

Brewer also said Tuesday that she wants the MTA to officially study whether 14th Street in Manhattan could be reserved for buses during the course of repairs.

At the same press conference, Ollie Oliver, a Manhattan organizer with Transportation Alternatives, said he hoped the MTA would create extra space for all three kinds of non-car commuters — pedestrians, cyclists and bus riders — during the shutdown.

The MTA will host its third public discussion on the L Train shutdown this Thursday in Canarsie.