New Yorkers know to expect some kind of work on city subways to take place most weekends, but an upcoming L train suspension will offer a crystal ball into what commuters can expect to come in 2019.
Starting Friday, May 5 at 11:45 p.m. through 5 a.m. Monday, May 8, there will be no L service in both directions between Eighth Avenue in Manhattan and Broadway Junction in Brooklyn, according to MTA.info.
The L will continue to run from Broadway Junction to the end of the line at Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway.
For alternate service, commuters can take J or M trains or M14 buses between First Avenue and Eight Avenue in Manhattan.
In Brooklyn there will be three free shuttle buses between:
• Broadway Junction and Myrtle Avenue-Wyckoff Avenue
• Myrtle Avenue-Wyckoff Avenue and Lorimer Street-Metropolitan Avenue G train
• Lorimer Street-Metropolitan Avenue (G) and Marcy Avenue (J/M)
This weekend’s shutdown will be good training for the major suspension set to begin in April 2019, when the Canarsie Tunnel between Manhattan and Brooklyn will be closed until July 2020. In March, the MTA announced the closure was dropped to 15 months from the originally scheduled 18 months.
The tunnel is in need of repair due to water damage it sustained during Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. Two stations and the construction of a substation will be part of the planned work for the L line. The Canarsie Tunnel, which runs under the East River, serves roughly 225,000 commuters.
Some of this weekend’s additional subway service changes include:
• 1 trains running express from 96th Street to 157th Street
• 2 trains bypassing Jackson Avenue
• 3 and 4 trains skipping Sutter Avenue-Rutland Road and Junius Street in both directions. The 3 will run to and from New Lots Avenue all weekend to replace the 4 in Brooklyn.
• 4 trains will have suspended service in both directions between New Lots Avenue/Crown Heights-Utica Avenue and Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall.
• 5 trains will not run in either direction between Eastchester-Dyre Avenue and East 180th Street
• Because 5 trains will be suspended between East 180th Street and 149 Street-Grand Concourse, straphangers are told to take the 2.
For the complete schedule, including times, of the above changes as well as service changes on the A, D, F, J, M, N and R lines, please visit MTA.info.
