Officials Provide Update On Preparations For Upcoming L Train Shutdown
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Officials Monday gave an update on what preparations are being made for the upcoming L train shutdown.
The 15-month shutdown between Brooklyn and Manhattan will begin in April of 2019 so crews can repair the Canarsie Tunnel, which was damaged during Superstorm Sandy.
"Superstorm Sandy wreaked such damage in that tunnel, with not just water but with salt water that we have to bite the bullet, that we have to get this job done," NYC Transit President Andy Byford said.
About 22,000 riders use the train line on weekdays alone. While about 70 percent of commuters will use alternate lines, Byford said more than 20 percent of riders will use shuttle buses that will run along the Manhattan Bridge and across 14th Street.
He said during the height of rush hour, they will have about 80 shuttles going across the bridge every hour, CBS2's Marc Liverman reported. The plan is they will be the same as regular MTA fare.
"We will have supervisors whose mandate on the day, in addition to hundreds of additional staff across the route, to take very early action the second you start to see a route degrade, the second you start to see the buses beginning to bunch because someone's parked," he said. "Immediate intervention, that's what will make this thing work."
A public meeting is also being held Monday to get comments and review the proposed alternative service plan. The meeting took place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the MTA headquarters at 2 Broadway.
For more information from the MTA about the L train project, click here.
