Uptown Board Demands More Shuttles During Subway Construction

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS-INWOOD, NY — Uptown's community board isn't happy with the MTA's plan to run shuttles during its next year-long elevator replacement project at the 191st Street 1 train station, and will hold a meeting to demand more frequent service.

Community Board 12 Chair Richard Lewis penned a letter calling the transit authority's plan a "failure." The MTA plans to run shuttles between Broadway and Fairview Avenue and St. Nicholas Avenue and West 191st Street every 20 minuted, but community members fear the long wait will lead to overcrowding on buses, according to the community board's letter. The elevators at the 191st Street station are often used by local residents as a way around traversing the steep slopes of streets in the hilly section of Upper Manhattan.

Board and community members are also concerned with the MTA's plan to not run any shuttle service after 10 p.m., according to Lewis' letter.

"We need to think this plan in terms of an evacuation mode where the maximum individuals are transported in minimum time. It will be an emergency if things do not change," Lewis wrote in the letter.

Community Board 12's transportation committee will discuss objections to the plan during its Monday, Jan. 6 meeting.

Starting Feb. 1, the elevators will be taken out of service for a one-year project to install completely new elevators. The MTA recently wrapped up a similar project at the West 168th Street 1 train station. Unlike the previous project, the 191st Street station will not be entirely shut down during construction.

The MTA is in the midst of a project to replace and fix elevators at five Uptown subway stations by 2022. The stations include: The West 168th Street 1 station, the 191st Street 1 station, the 190th Street A station, the 181st Street 1 station and the 181st Street A station.