MTA Meeting on Impending L Train Shutdown Set for May 5

Image courtesy of the MTA

UPDATE: The MTA's second meeting on the L Train shutdown, geared toward Manhattan residents, will be held May 12 at 5:30 p.m. at the Salvation Army Centennial Memorial Theatre, 120 West 14th St., Manhattan.

(Editors Note: An earlier version of this story listed the start time for the event as 6 p.m. The meeting starts at 7 p.m.) 

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — City officials will host a public meeting May 5 in Brooklyn to discuss upcoming, heart-attack-inducing repair plans for the L Train's Canarsie Tunnel, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced Monday.

The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Marcy Avenue Armory, located at 355 Marcy Ave in Williamsburg.

And because the L Train shutdown is expected be so much more than a Brooklyn problem, MTA officials also plans to hold a meeting in Manhattan later in May — exact date TBA.

The Canarsie Tube runs under the East River, connecting the L train's 1st Avenue stop in the East Village to its Bedford Avenue stop in Williamsburg. These underwater tunnels carry about 300,000 riders between boroughs each day, according to city estimates.

However, the tunnels sustained major saltwater damage in 2012 during Superstorm Sandy, and are major need of repairs, the MTA announced — to widespread panic — earlier this year.

In a statement issued Monday, the MTA said that "any 24/7 closure of the Canarsie Tunnel’s two tubes is unlikely to begin before January of 2019, leaving ample time for both the selection of a construction plan and the development of service alternatives."

"At the same time," the statement said, "procurement of design and construction services for the project must begin to move forward this year to ensure that hundreds of millions of federal dollars that have been secured by the entire New York Congressional delegation are not lost."

According to the MTA, the two public meetings in Brooklyn and Manhattan will focus on "potential construction approaches currently under consideration."

City transportation planners have promised they'll actively seek feedback from residents, businesses and other groups as they formulates a construction plan.

A document uploaded to the MTA's website Monday says the L Train shutdown will begin in the first quarter of 2019, although its unclear whether the shutdown will be partial or complete.

According to the document — drawn up by the MTA's Capital Program Oversight Committee and first spotted by the New York Daily News — 56 miles of power, signal and communications wires in the Canarsie Tube must be replaced, and 2.7 miles of track repaired.

The document also says the MTA will be adding elevators and new stairs to the L Train's 1st Avenue and Bedford Avenue stops during construction.