Second Ave. Sagas

Viaduct shutdown weekend finally arrives

Written by

Benjamin Kabak

in

This map from a 2007 MTA presentation details the service changes across the Culver Viaduct.

We’ve had Brooklynites up in arms, work delayed by a snow storm that didn’t deliver much snow and a local media appearance all before the Culver Viaduct shut down started. Well, folks, the big day is finally here. At 11:30 p.m. tonight, the Culver Viaduct service changes will begin.

So what’s happening? Let’s bullet-point it:

  • From 11:30 p.m. tonight through 5 a.m. on Monday, no trains will operate over the Viaduct. F and G service between Jay St-MetroTech and Church Av will be replaced by free shuttle buses in both directions.
  • From 5 a.m. Monday through late May, there will be no Manhattan-bound F service at Smith/9th Sts. and no Manhattan-bound F or Queens-bound G service at 15th St. or Fort Hamilton Parkway.
  • All F and G trains will stop at a temporary platform at 4th Ave./9th Sts.
  • In late May, Smith/9th Sts. will shut completely for a year-long rehab, and these service patterns will change.

For more info on this project, check out the MTA’s official news page on the Culver Viaduct work. It’s a necessary evil for subway service along the Culver line.

Meanwhile, weekend work returns with a vengeance tonight. What follows are the service advisories as I get them from New York City Transit. They are subject to change without notice. Listen to all on-board announcements and check signs in your local station. Subway Weekender has the map.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, January 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 17, there are no 1 trains between 14th Street and South Ferry due to Port Authority work at Chambers Street. No. 1 trains will run express between 34th Street and 14th Street, skipping 28th, 23rd, and 18th Streets. For local service between 34th Street and Chambers Street, customers may take the 2 or 3 trains. Free shuttle buses will operate between Chambers Street and South Ferry. Note: During the overnight hours, downtown No. 1 trains run local from 34th Street to 14th Street. No. 3 trains run express between 148th Street and 42nd Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 17, No. 2 trains will run local between 96th Street and Chambers Street due to Port Authority work at Chambers Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 17, Brooklyn-bound 2 and 4 trains skip Bergen Street, Grand Army Plaza and Eastern Parkway due to track work at Grand Army Plaza. Customers traveling to these stations may take a Brooklyn-bound 2, 3, or 4 to Franklin Avenue and transfer to a Manhattan-bound 2 or 3.


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, January 15 and Sunday, January 16, 3 trains run local between 96th Street and Chambers Street due to Port Authority work at Chambers Street.


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, January 15 and Sunday, January 16, Brooklyn-bound 3 trains skip Bergen Street, Grand Army Plaza and Eastern Parkway due to track work at Grand Army Plaza.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 17, uptown 4 trains run local from Brooklyn Bridge to 14th Street due to work on the Broadway-Lafayette to Bleecker Street connection.


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, January 15 and Sunday, January 16, uptown 5 trains run local from Brooklyn Bridge to 14th Street due to work on the Broadway-Lafayette to Bleecker Street connection.


From 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday, January 15 and from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Sunday, January 16, No. 5 trains run every 20 minutes between Dyre Avenue and Bowling Green due to work on the Broadway-Lafayette to Bleecker Street connection.


From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, January 15 and Sunday, January 16, Bronx-bound 6 trains skip Whitlock Avenue, Elder Avenue, Morrison Avenue-Soundview and St. Lawrence Avenue due to rail repairs at Whitlock Avenue.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 15 to 6 a.m. Sunday, January 16, downtown A trains run local from 59th Street-Columbus Circle to Canal Street due to track drain installation at 59th Street-Columbus Circle.


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, January 15 and Sunday, January 16, there are no C trains between Manhattan and Brooklyn due to the Culver Viaduct Rehabilitation. C trains are rerouted to the F line between West 4th Street and 2nd Avenue, the last stop. Customers traveling to Spring, Canal and Chambers Streets may take the A or E. Customers traveling to Brooklyn should take the F instead. Note: F trains run on the C line between Jay Street-MetroTech and Euclid Avenue.


From 11 p.m. Friday, January 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 17, D trains run on the R line between DeKalb Avenue and 36th Street, Brooklyn due to switch renewal north of Pacific Street and track work south of DeKalb Avenue.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 15 to 6 a.m. Sunday, January 16, downtown E trains skip 23rd and Spring Streets due to track drain installation at 59th Street-Columbus Circle.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 17, E trains run local on the R line between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and Queens Plaza and F trains run local between Forest Hills-71 Avenue and 36th Street in both directions to replace the suspended R due to rail installation between Queensboro Plaza and 57th Street-7th Avenue.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, January 14 and 5 a.m. Monday, January 17, free shuttle buses replace F and G trains between Jay Street-MetroTech and Church Avenue due to preparation work for the Culver Viaduct Rehabilitation Project. F trains run in two sections:

  • Between Jamaica-179th Street and Jay Street-MetroTech, then rerouted to the C line to Euclid Avenue and
  • Between Church Avenue and Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, January 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 17, G trains operate between Court Square and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets due to preparation work for the Culver Viaduct Rehabilitation Project. Free shuttle buses replace F and G service between Jay Street-MetroTech and Church Avenue. To reach Church Avenue from Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts., customers may take the A or F to Jay Street-MetroTech and transfer to the shuttle bus making all F and G stops to Church Avenue.


From 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, January 15 and Sunday, January 16, J trains run every 20 minutes between Jamaica Center and 111th Street due to rail repairs and replacement. The last stop for some Jamaica-bound J trains is 111th Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 17, N trains operate between Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue and 42nd Street-Times Square with an N shuttle train operating between Queensboro Plaza and Ditmars Boulevard. This is due to the rail replacement between Queensboro Plaza and 57th Street-7th Avenue.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 17, the N operates on the R line in both directions between DeKalb Avenue and 34th Street (Manhattan) due to the rail replacement between Queensboro Plaza and 57th Street-7th Avenue and track work south of DeKalb Avenue. Note: The N operates local in Brooklyn between DeKalb Avenue and 59th Street.


From 12:01 A.m. Saturday, January 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 17, Q trains run local between Canal Street and 57th Street-7th Avenue due to the rail replacement between Queensboro Plaza and 57th Street-7th Avenue.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 17, R service is suspended due to the rail replacement between Queensboro Plaza and 57th Street-7th Avenue. Customers may take the E, F, N, Q, 7 or free shuttle bus instead.

  • Free shuttle buses replace the R between 59th Street, Brooklyn and Bay Ridge-95th Street
  • E trains run local on the R line between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and Queens Plaza.
  • F trains run local on the R line between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and 36th Street, Queens
  • N trains run on the R line between Times Square-42nd Street and 59th Street, Brooklyn.
  • Q trains run local between Canal Street and 57th Street-7th Avenue.

Comments

14 responses to “Viaduct shutdown weekend finally arrives”

  1. Christopher

    That has got to be the worst map I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I have stared at and tried to follow the paths and read all the silly bullet points and still don’t know what’s happening. People shouldn’t try make maps in Powerpoint (or well anything Powerpoint but that’s a different discussion.)

    Reply
    1. Aaron

      I agree, I’m a transit geek and I can’t make any sense of that.

      Reply
    2. BBnet3000

      Ive been thinking the same thing both times this map has been on this blog. For the life of me, I cannot make sense of this map.

      Reply
    3. al

      That map had me seeing different things every time I looked at it. They should leave the station platforms as blocks and get rid of the circles. The lines half resemble what exists. The curve is there, but the express and local tracks are in opposite locations relative to reality.

      It looks like someone whipped this slide up at the last minute, or a better design was chosen, but this was put in by mistake.

      Sidebar: I had a friend who worked on correcting electronic drawings for the TA, and there were lots of weird errors. One of the drawings had an extra 7000′ of track at Stillwell Ave.

      Reply
  2. Jerrold

    Also, what’s that “M R” doing on the Fourth Ave. Line on that map?
    Since when is the M currently running on that line?
    Maybe that map was made up long in advance, and not corrected before being released.

    Reply
    1. Benjamin Kabak

      That map is from a 2007 presentation.

      Reply
      1. Andrew

        More specifically, it’s a Powerpoint slide from a 2007 presentation. Presumably someone was explaining it at the time. It was never intended to be a standalone document.

        That said, it basically makes sense to me. The track configuration at Church is a bit off, but that’s minor. The two-level bit by Bergen is confusing, but I can’t think of a better way to depict it. And I have no idea why some of the platforms are circular.

        I assume some elements of the plan have changed since 2007. Smith-9th St isn’t closed entirely (yet), and the bridge at 4th Ave is in the wrong place.

        Reply
  3. Dylan

    “In late May, Smith/9th Sts. will shut completely for a year-long rehab, and these service patterns will change.”

    Has MTA clarified what that means exactly? Should we expect a)shuttle service around Smith/9th b)no service below Smith/9th or c)trains will not stop at Smith/9th?

    Reply
    1. Benjamin Kabak

      Trains won’t stop at Smith/9th Sts. They’ll run express past that station. No shuttle buses but service will continue on the Culver line.

      Reply
  4. Larry Littlefield

    The MTA ought to offer a map that indicates whether back-riding or walking farther is better for those living in different parts of Windsor Terrace.

    For me, back-riding is out of the question. I’ll walk up to 7th Avenue, or across the park to the Brighton Line. I expect that will cost me another 10-15 minutes, about the same as the extra time it takes me to bicycle to Midtown.

    Reply
    1. Andrew

      That depends on the headway and on your walking speed. A fixed map can’t capture it.

      You might want to try running it through the Trip Planner. That still won’t capture your walking speed, but it does know about the headway.

      Reply
  5. Jerrold

    TO BEN:

    This question is a little off-topic, but I don’t know where else to post it.
    Could you please tell me if the Court Square connection is still expected to open next month?
    I haven’t seen anything about it in a long time now.

    Reply
  6. Andrew

    Now that this has been going on for four days, any reports from the field? Complete chaos, as predicted by many?

    Reply
  7. Someone

    The F/G one was confusing

    Reply

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