MTA Wants To Hear From You About L Train Shutdown Plan

WEST VILLAGE, NY — It's time for another conversation about the L train shutdown, and how the already-beleaguered subway system will transport the thousands of commuters who will lose their main train line in 2019.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced on Friday that it would host two additional town hall meetings with city's Department of Transportation (DOT) in May as part of an ongoing initiative to solicit commuter feedback on their shutdown plan.

Two top transportation officials, DOT commissioner Polly Trottenberg and NYC Transit president Andy Byford, will both be present to take questions directly from residents, many of whom feel the current plan isn't sufficient.

Trottenberg and Byford encouraged commuters to give officials their input on the "unprecedented challenged" the L train shutdown will pose.

"The outreach we are doing in these upcoming town halls is a crucial part of that process," Trottenberg said in a statement. "We need riders, residents, and businesses in the affected Brooklyn and Manhattan communities to turn out and give us their input as our final plans evolve."

The MTA was forced to take the drastic option of halting L train service entirely to allow for critical repairs to the Canarsie Tunnel, which was badly damaged during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Construction is scheduled to being in April 2019, and will halt all service between Brooklyn and Manhattan and within Manhattan. A stretch of the L train will continue to run in Brooklyn between Rockaway Parkway and Bedford Avenue during the shutdown.

The L train shuttles at least 225,000 commuters from Brooklyn to Manhattan every weekday, according to MTA estimates. The repairs are expected to take 15 months to complete.

The MTA and the city are currently planning a number of different methods to provide for former L train commuters, including additional bus and ferry service and more train service on alternate lines. In addition, the Williamsburg Bridge will only be open to vehicles with three or more passengers during peak hours. The city has also proposed restricting much of 14th Street to buses and some other permitted vehicles while closing much of the street to general traffic during peak hours.

Some transit activists have said that restricting 14th Street to buses during peak hours is not enough, and that the route must be closed to regular cars around-the-clock.

Here are the details for the open-house meetings:

• Manhattan: Wed., May 9, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at The Auditorium at The New School, 66 W. 12th St.
• Brooklyn: Wed., May 16, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at Progress High School 850 Grand St.

Image credit: Ciara McCarthy / Patch