Lexington Ave. steam explosion to mess with the Thursday commute

This destruction on Lexington Ave. is going to wreck havoc with the morning commute. (Photo by Peter Foley of the European Pressphoto Agency)

Mid-Day Update: The MTA announced shortly after the end of rush hour this morning that all trains are now stopping at Grand Central Terminal. Shuttle service has been restored as well. However, as many streets remain closed around the giant hole at Lexington and 41st, bus service on the M42, M98, M101, M102, M103 and M104 is slower than normal with some route detours. These changes could last a while.

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The notices came to me on my Blackberry this evening while I stared at animals in the San Diego Zoo. Three thousand miles from home, I could do nothing but check the mobile Internet to find out more about the steam pipe explosion that has left a gaping hole on Lexington Ave. just a block from Grand Central Terminal and a few feet above the subway tunnels underneath Manhattan.

While CityRoom and Gothamist each did fantastic jobs with their up-to-the-minute updates (CityRoom here and Gothamist here), I had to piece together the story as reports reached me during a Padres game. Such are the travails of vacation.

But the three-hour time difference always me to blog now, on the edge of the morning commute in New York City, with some bad news for travelers heading to Grand Central Terminal. Things, according to this MTA service alert for New York City Transit, do not look good.

As of 5:30 a.m., the East Side is a mess. While the tunnels escaped unharmed, the air around midtown could be filled with asbestos from the exploding pipe. As such, many streets are closed and access to Grand Central Terminal is limited to the 47th St. entrance. As for the subways, travel on the East Side is restricted.

First, the good news: Trains are running through the East Side IRT tunnels (and, yes, some of us still know what the IRT is) but are not stopping at Grand Central. The closest stops are as follows: On the 6, walk from 51st or 33rd Sts. On the 4 and 5, the trains will stop at 14th St./Union Square and 59th St.

The 7 coming inbound from Queens is skipping Grand Central Terminal. The nearest stop in this case is the 5th Ave. stop along 42nd St.

The Times Square shuttle is suspended for now, and the M104 and M42 buses are terminating at Times Square instead of on the East Side.

From Westchester, the morning commute should be okay. As the MTA reports, Metro-North is running into Grand Central, but only one entrance at the station is open. Plan accordingly.

It’s going to be a rough few days for East Side travel. Many streets are closed as WCBS 880 AM reports here, and Lexington Ave. will probably be closed for a while as the city tests the steam pipes, the air quality and the structural integrity of the pavement before moving onto the repair phase.

Keep an eye on the MTA’s service alerts, and I’ll do my best to keep everyone updated. It’s going to be a tough few days around midtown.