Home Service Advisories Weekend work impacting 12 subway lines

Weekend work impacting 12 subway lines

by Benjamin Kabak

Before we delve into the weekend service advisories, a few points of clarification on some posts from the past few days:

  • I took a tour of South Ferry on Thursday and guessed that it would be at least until 2014 before the 1 train’s terminal is back in service. The MTA on Friday said it could take up to three years to restore service. Such an estimate leads to me question whether spending $600 million to rebuild is the best use of funds. It’s a prickly topic, and one I’ll try to explore next week.
  • Next, we have a follow-up on the MTA’s decision to kill the SBS’ flashing blue lights. According to a report on Transportation Nation, the MTA fielded a grand total of one complaint concerning the flashing blue lights before a group of Staten Island politicians decided to make an issue out of it. It’s hard not to see this move as retribution from a transit-hostile group of representatives who were upset that the MTA and DOT took away a lane of automobile traffic. The MTA will now have to spend more money than it should on an issue about which no one was really too worried. New York City politics at work.

Now, the fun stuff:


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, January 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 21, Rector Street-bound 1 trains skip Dyckman Street due to floor tile installation at Dyckman Street.


From 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, January 19 and Sunday, January 20, the last stop for some uptown 1 trains is 137th Street due to track panel installation north of 231st Street in the Bronx.


From 3:45 a.m. Saturday, January 19 to 10 p.m. Sunday, January 20, 2 service operates in two sections due to track panel installation north of 219th Street in the Bronx:

  • Between Flatbush Avenue and East 180th Street*
  • Between East 180th Street and 241st Street

Customers may transfer between trains at East 180th Street.

*2 trains are rerouted to Dyre Avenue at East 180th Street during this time.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, January 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 21, there are no 3 trains between Franklin Avenue and New Lots Avenue due to switch replacement at Utica Avenue.

  • 3 service operates between 148th Street and Franklin Avenue and via the 2 line between Franklin Avenue and Flatbush Avenue.
  • Free shuttle buses operate in two segments between Franklin Avenue and New Lots Avenue:
    1. Local between Franklin Avenue and Sutter Avenue.
    2. Non-stop between Franklin Avenue and Sutter Avenue and local between Sutter Avenue and New Lots Avenue.

Customers may transfer between trains and free shuttle buses at Franklin Avenue. Note: From 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m., the 3 operates between 148th Street and Times Square-42nd Street only.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, January 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 21, there are no 4 trains between Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center and New Lots Avenue due to switch replacement at Utica Avenue.

  • 4 service operates between Woodlawn and Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center. Take 2 or 3 trains between Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center and Franklin Avenue.
  • Free shuttle buses operate in two segments between Franklin Avenue and New Lots Avenue:
    1. Local between Franklin Avenue and Sutter Avenue.
    2. Non-stop between Franklin Avenue and Sutter Avenue and local between Sutter Avenue and New Lots Avenue.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 21, 4 trains operate local in both directions between 125th Street and Grand Central-42nd Street stations due to signal work between 42nd Street-Grand Central and 59th Street and track work near 86th Street.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, January 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 21, uptown 4 trains run express from 125th Street to Burnside Avenue due to station rehabilitation at 149th Street-Grand Concourse.


From 3:45 a.m. Saturday, January 19 to 10 p.m. Sunday, January 20, 5 service is suspended due to station rehabilitation work at 149th Street-Grand Concourse. Customers should take the 2 and/or 4 train instead.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, January 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 21 (and the next 9 weekends), there is no 7 train service between Times Square-42nd Street and Queensboro Plaza due to Flushing Line CBTC. Customers may take the E, N, Q and S (42nd Street shuttle) and free shuttle buses as alternatives.

  • Use the E, N or Q* between Manhattan and Queens
  • Free shuttle buses operate between Vernon Blvd-Jackson Avenue and Queensboro Plaza
  • In Manhattan, the 42nd Street S Shuttle operates overnight

*Q service is extended to Ditmars Blvd. (See Q entry for hours of operation.)


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 21, Coney Island-bound D trains run local from DeKalb Avenue to 36th Street due to switch replacement north of Atlantic Avenue.


From 9:45 p.m. Friday, January 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 21, Jamaica-bound F trains are rerouted via the M from 47th 50th Sts to Roosevelt Avenue due to station work at Lexington Avenue/63rd Street for SAS project. F trains run express from Queens Plaza to Roosevelt Avenue.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, January 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 21, Coney Island-bound F trains run express from 34th Street-Herald Square to West 4th Street due to electrical work at 34th Street.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, January 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 21, Jamaica-bound F trains run express from Church Avenue to Jay Street-MetroTech due to work on the Culver Viaduct rehab and the Church Avenue Interlocking.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, January 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 21, there are no G trains between Church Avenue and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts due to work on the Culver Viaduct rehabilitation and the Church Avenue Interlocking. Customers should take the F instead.

  • For F service, customers may take the A or C between Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. and Jay Street-MetroTech.
  • G service operates in two sections:
    1. 1. Between Court Square and Bedford-Nostrand Aves and
    2. 2. Between Bedford-Nostrand Aves and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. (every 20 minutes).


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 21, Coney Island-bound N trains run local from DeKalb Avenue to 59th Street due to switch replacement north of Atlantic Avenue.


From 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday, January 19 and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, January 20, Q trains are extended to Ditmars Blvd. in order to augment service between Manhattan and Queens.


From 11 p.m. Friday, January 18 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 21, Brooklyn-bound Q trains run local from 34th Street-Herald Square to Canal Street due to electrical work at 14th Street-Union Square.

(42nd Street Shuttle)
From 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday, January 19, Sunday, January 20 and Monday, January 21, 42nd Street S shuttle operates overnight due to weekend work on the 7 line.

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32 comments

Real Name January 19, 2013 - 10:20 am

Perhaps this question has been addressed before and if so, I apologize for beating a dead horse, but why – given that the entire Contract I IRT was built from scratch in 4-1/2 years – should RESTORING a damaged one-station segment take three???

Ground was broken near City Hall on March 24, 1900, and the entire line opened from City Hall to 145th Street (Broadway) on October 27, 1904. The line from Rector Street to South Ferry is already built and, I presume, has remained intact. It is only the fitting that need to be replaced. Three Years!?!?!?

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Someone January 19, 2013 - 11:06 am

In 1904, the legal works were much less complex. Today, you’d have to file a lot of paperwork to renovate a single station. Besides, the signals and interlocking works are destroyed.

Unless renovation were to suddenly complicate, however, I doubt that it would take until 2015 or 2016 to finish renovation. I’m thinking maybe at the max, January 2014.

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Frank B January 19, 2013 - 12:10 pm

In the meanwhile, they can at least run trains to the South Ferry Loops, can they not? Remember prior to this new station a few years ago, everyone had to have the brains to use the first 5 cars; I’m sure they can do it again.

Reopening the South Ferry Loops, and providing the BMT-IRT Transfer again; that needs to be a priority.

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Someone January 19, 2013 - 12:21 pm

The MTA woud have to file an ADA waiver, because otherwise they couldn’t open (or reopen) a non-ADA-accessible station. Besides, the gap fillers for the South Ferry loop station have been cannibalised for parts to repair the Union Square gap fillers. So this would require not only going to the first 5 cars, but also not using the middle doors.

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Nathanael January 19, 2013 - 11:08 pm

A lot of this is the thicket of building permits involved. Unfortunately, nobody thought to make a “one stop shop” for getting permission to do projects….

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Nathanael January 19, 2013 - 11:09 pm

And as said before, the entire signalling system needs to be completely replaced. I believe that has custom parts in it, unfortunately (it shouldn’t, but it was a patch on a very old signal system).

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Michael K January 20, 2013 - 1:12 am

Nathanael,

In my personal experience with one-stop shops in smaller municipalities, that shop tens to determine the direction of all development in the municipality – and TRUST me those individuals are patrons of the party, not professional planners of any sort…

Our system allows for checks and balances – since a car guy may be reviewing at NYSDEP, and a transit thinking guy might take a look at it in another office and demand adherence to CEQR Chapter 16 and demand that a transit option be included in CEQR Chapter 23….

It is slow, but we don’t end up with Stroads shoved down our throats like so many other places do.

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Bolwerk January 21, 2013 - 10:44 am

You can have checks and balances without going overboard and having complete dysfunction (our system). People should definitely be professional, but you don’t need to incubate competing bureaucracies that mainly want to preserve themselves rather than serve a useful function.

One of the keys is recognizing stupidity and ineptitude, which usually comes along with “car guys.” If anything, our partisan hacks are just infighting over partisan hackery, and not legitimate planning-related issues.

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Nathanael January 21, 2013 - 1:39 pm

I’m not actually asking for the permits to be reviewed by one person. I’m asking for the *collection of permit applications* to be available from one person, which believe it or not, it often isn’t.

You may have to have a person working for several hours just figuring out what permits are necessary!

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Michael K January 21, 2013 - 6:16 pm

@Nathaniel,

Most developers or consulting firms are very familiar with the process and likely already have PDF copies of all the applications (we do).

It has been the lack of communication between offices that grinds my gears – me were working on an abandoned NYS&W rail line in Northwestern NJ (a duplicate of a nearby line in a very low density area with a very, very long potential commute to NYC) and one of the local muicipalities had the line registered as historic, thinking it would stop re-use as a freight rail and speed up the rail-trail they wanted.

The State said no, claiming that since it is historic now, they need a much more thorough assessment that was well beyond the scope of the project’s budget….

Nathanael January 22, 2013 - 12:32 am

I think what would really help would be a single, systematically thought out system of rules.

Instead we have patch upon patch upon patch, and it isn’t even coherently organized. Stormwater, wetland, and endangered species analysis is really part of the same issue (environmental sustainability), but three separate sets of rules with separate authorizations.

This would require legislatures which care about government, however. One of our nationl parties is openly hostile to the entire concept of good government, and the other one can therefore get away with slacking off.

Someone January 19, 2013 - 1:13 pm

Anyways, about the flashing blue lights on SBS buses, who gives a crap about their color anyway. The only people who don’t like it are the whiny SI reps who’d rather have their automobile lanes back.

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Alex C January 19, 2013 - 11:54 pm

Amber is for the regular hooligan lights on MTA buses. Red, green, blue and yellow are all emergency colors. White would not really be noticed. I seriously suggest violet or magenta. Different enough in hue from the others, and it isn’t plain white.

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Someone January 20, 2013 - 8:37 am

Red, yellow, green, blue, and white are all fine choices for LEDs. Violet and magenta are much more likely to burn out within a short period of time. The problem now is finding a company that makes violet/magenta LEDs that don’t burn out with 2-3-years.

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Alex C January 20, 2013 - 1:29 pm

Right, but they can’t use RGBY, since those are taken by emergency vehicles. White might work well since it would be like headlamps flashing.

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Someone January 20, 2013 - 6:05 pm

Yes, the MTA could use white (or amber, as I mentioned in another thread).

Jerrold January 19, 2013 - 5:00 pm

It is a “prickly” issue?
Does that mean that the pricks who run the MTA are considering NOT doing it at all?
What rational alternative exists?

Look how the new 1 World Trade Center is mostly built by now.
Very expensive, and very difficult, does not have to mean impossible.

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anon January 19, 2013 - 8:35 pm

Lhota made Drudge Report… “anti-bridge tolls”

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Alex C January 19, 2013 - 11:51 pm

He’ll get eaten alive by the (small, but they’re there) NYC Tea Party groups for being associated with transit, even as he’s now pandering to them with the 1950s car talk.

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R. Graham January 20, 2013 - 6:32 pm

In regards to Ben’s statement about the appropriate use of funds. Similar argument was made by Governor Christie himself when he used ARC funds on other projects. If you give me $600 million to rebuild it should go toward rebuilding. If you give me money to rebuild smarter it should be done so. To use the funds on anything else other than what the original directive would be no different from NJ’s Governor last year.

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Benjamin Kabak January 20, 2013 - 6:42 pm

They haven’t received the money to rebuild it yet so isn’t the question really whether or not they should ask for it? I don’t see the ARC analogy here.

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R. Graham January 20, 2013 - 8:49 pm

I thought the $600 million was supposed to come from the $51 billion relief package just passed by Washington.

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pea-jay January 21, 2013 - 1:29 pm

Is that 600M quote to restore service just get us back pre-Sandy or does it include improvements to prevent this flooding from occurring again or preventing future flooding from being so disruptive?

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Someone January 21, 2013 - 6:52 pm

No, it’s to restore the station, equipment, etc. destroyed in Sandy.

Chris C January 21, 2013 - 1:36 pm

But Christie (eventually) got the permission from the Feds to use some of the funds for other schemes

If was their money in the first place and if Christie hadn’t had other schemes to spend it on (with approval) then the money would have gone back to whence it came.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.....ontroversy

“In September 2011, FTA and NJT reached a deal whereby $95 million would be paid back.[50] The agreement waived $2.7 million in penalties and interest and stipulated that $128 million would be spent on DOT-approved transit-related projects.[51][52]”

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Someone January 20, 2013 - 6:58 pm

Not related, but there should be a “what if” post.
It would basically be saying what if… a new service had to happen, construction, etc.
And you would get to answer with your ideas (or facts, if you want to)

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Someone January 21, 2013 - 12:42 pm

It should be something like “How would you set up service, if an earthquake destroyed every East River/Harlem River crossing except the Broadway Bridge, the Williamsburg Bridge and the Manhattan bridge?”

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Crushed Concrete January 21, 2013 - 3:13 am

The money may not come in until 2014 so work may not start until 2015 or maybe even 2016.

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Someone January 21, 2013 - 8:47 am

Actually, I think most of the money is already there. If it’s not, then South Ferry wouldn’t have a chance of reopening up until 2016(!).

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Jerrold January 21, 2013 - 10:53 pm

You know what I just realized right now?
The weird symmetry of the situation at the lower end of the West Side IRT.

Cortlandt St. – Destroyed by an act of war, and taking “forever” to reopen.

South Ferry – Destroyed by an act of Nature, and maybe it WILL take “forever” to reopen.

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Chris O'Leary January 22, 2013 - 12:22 pm

Not sure how short-turning the L Train at 14th-Union Square all weekend wasn’t considered worthy of the MTA mentioning in their weekly press release or on the weekly summary that’s posted in each station.

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