L Train Shutdown To Start In 2019
Much about the L train’s impending closure remains unclear, but after a recent release of several documents by the MTA, one thing is for sure: it’ll begin in 2019.
The MTA needs to close the Canarsie tunnel, which was damaged by Superstorm Sandy, and fix or replace roughly 56 miles of cables, three miles of track and a water pump, the NY Daily News reports.
It remains to be seen what exactly the closure will look like. There are two main directions it could take: a full shutdown of the tunnel for roughly two years, or a partial shutdown that’d last nearly seven years.
The MTA has also not released any information on transportation alternatives that might crop up to serve the roughly 300,000 daily riders who’d be affected.
While residents of Williamsburg and other neighborhoods served by the L are likely to be unhappy about the news, other neighborhoods could actually benefit from the closure, as Bisnow previously reported.
It could also bode well for the new office stock in the pipeline in nearby Morgantown, which is largely aimed at workers who live in Bushwick and Williamsburg, who’d be less inclined to commute to Manhattan in the event of a full-on L shutdown. [NYDN]
