L Train Shutdown: Here's What You Missed at the MTA's Big L Train Meeting

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) hasn't officially announced its preferred method for repairing the Superstorm Sandy-damaged Canarsie Tube, which carries hundreds of thousands of L Train riders across the East River each day. However, at a highly anticipated public meeting Thursday night on possible repair plans, MTA officials seemed to lean toward a complete, 18-month shutdown of L service between Brooklyn and Manhattan.

The MTA stuck to two repair options it had already detailed to reporters, both of which would break ground in January 2019.

The first, as mentioned above, would be a complete, year-and-a-half-long shutdown of the line between 8th Avenue in Manhattan and Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn. L Trains would run with in Brooklyn only — specifically, between Williamsburg's Bedford Avenue station and the Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway station just south of Brownsville.

The second option, which MTA officials didn't seem too fond of, would be a three-year partial shutdown of the L.

Under this plan, trains would continue running from Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway to Williamsburg's Lorimer Street station, then go single-track from Bedford Avenue to 8th Avenue — allowing crews to take turns fixing each of the L's two underwater tracks individually.

Single-track service would run between 8th Avenue and the Bedford stop under the MTA's three-year approach. Images courtesy of the MTA

Under either scenario, riders who use the L exclusively within Brooklyn — around 125,000 of the line's 400,000 weekday passengers, according to MTA officials — would see only a slight delay in service, the MTA promised.

It's the growing population of North Brooklyn-to-Mid-Manhattan commuters, of course, who would be affected most.

While both the MTA's L Train shutdown scenarios have pros and cons, Veronique Hakim, president of NYC Transit for the MTA, said 80 percent of riders impacted by the repairs would be negatively impacted in similar ways by either approach.

The difference, she said, is that the full shutdown would inconvenience them for half as long as the alternative.

There would be no service between 8th Avenue and the Bedford stop under the 18-month repair plan

Hakim also said the MTA is concerned that single-tracking the L will result in severe overcrowding. (Yes, even more than there is now.)

During the week, approximately 40 L Trains pass through the Canarsie Tube each hour — 20 in each direction. The train transports 225,000 riders across the East River daily, according to MTA officials.

However, if both Manhattan-bound and Brooklyn-bound trains shared a single track, only about 10 trains could pass through per hour, according to the MTA.

Another pro of the 18-month plan, Hakim said, is that it would be more attractive to potential contractors, who she said often prefer to control their entire work site.

In either scenario, the city will need to offer alternative transit options for L train riders.

A possible ferry running from northern Williamsburg to 20th Street in Manhattan was discussed at Thursday's meeting.

Or, for commuters who prefer taking a subway line, MTA officials said they'll be able to increase rider capacity on the M train by 25 percent; on the G line by 160 percent, by extending the G's size to the full length of a subway platform and/or dispatching three more trains per hour; and on the A and C trains by 10 percent.

Additionally, to compensate for a full year-and-a-half of no L Train, the MTA is considering sending a shuttle bus from Bedford Avenue to Marcy Avenue, then over the Williamsburg Bridge to Delancey Street. Extra shuttle buses could also run along 14th street in Manhattan, officials said Thursday.

Another option — not addressed by MTA officials, but pitched to reporters Thursday night by Dan Levy, the entrepreneur behind the East River Skyway — would be a new tram running across the river.

Levy said the tram could be constructed in under two years for about $120 million, and could transport 10,000 people per hour.

But most of the meeting was spent driving home the dire need for repairs in the L Train's Canarsie Tube.

During Sandy, the 92-year-old tunnel was inundated with 7 million gallons of corrosive seawater, officials said. The water penetrated and weakened the "duct banks" that run along each side of the L train's rails, serving as pathways into the tunnel and carrying miles of electrical and signal cables.

Around 37,000 feet of duct bank must be repaired, and new cables must be laid down, MTA officials explained Thursday.

A cross-section of the Canarsie Tube

Workers can't complete the repair work over weekends or at night, according to the MTA, because the dust it will produce won't settle by the time commuters enter the system.

The MTA did have bit of good news for meeting attendees, amid all the doomsday predictions: When L Train repairs are complete, an additional two trains will be able to run in each direction per hour, and several stations along the line will have been upgraded.

Despite the MTA's apparent lean toward a full, 18-month closure, Williamsburg residents Liam Blank and Martin Eaton said they weren't convinced it was the right approach.

Eaton said he wouldn't want to take a ferry in the winter. Blank, who studies transit planning, said he, too, preferred the three-year option.

"I can deal with a train that's running less frequently," Blank said. "At least you still have some service."

MTA officials have said they'll be choosing their preferred L Train shutdown approach within the next few months. And before that time comes, residents still have at least one more chance to throw their 2 cents into the well: The next L Train meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. May 12 at the Salvation Army Centennial Memorial Theatre, 120 West 14th St., Manhattan.