Second Ave. Sagas

Subway workin’ during the three-day weekend

Written by

Benjamin Kabak

in

For most people, three-day weekends are the best. Sunday night doesn’t carry with it the threat and dread of a Monday morning, and most people can kick back and enjoy an extra day off. For those working on the subway, this three-day weekend offers up a chance to catch up after Transit prematurely canceled last weekend’s work due to the threat of a snow storm that never really came. With Monday’s service set to follow a regular Saturday schedule, some lines — the A, G and 7, in particular — will see its work stretch through the entire three-day weekend.

Anyway, the fine print: These advisories came to me from New York City Transit and are subject to change with no notice. Check the signs at your local station and listen to on-board announcements for the latest. Subway Weekend has the map right here. The rest of the alerts follow:


12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, February 15, downtown 1 and 2 trains skip 86th, 79th, 66th, 59th and 50th Streets due to a concrete pour for switches north of 72nd Street and station rehabilitation at 96th Street.


From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, February 13 and Sunday, February 14, and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, February 15, 3 train service is extended to/from 34th Street-Penn Station due to a concrete pour for switches north of 72nd Street and station rehabilitation at 96th Street.


From 11 p.m. Friday, February 12 to 6 a.m. Saturday, February 13, from 11 p.m. Saturday, February 13 to 8 a.m. Sunday, February 14, and from 11 p.m. Sunday, February 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, February 15, Manhattan-bound 4 trains run express from Burnside Avenue to 125th Street due to a track chip-out at 149th Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, February 15, downtown-bound 4 trains run express from 14th Street-Union Square to Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall due to construction of the Bleecker Street to Broadway-Lafayette transfer.


From 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday, February 13 and from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Sunday, February 14, 5 trains run every 20 minutes between Eastchester-Dyre Avenue and Bowling Green due to construction of the Bleecker Street to Broadway-Lafayette transfer.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, February 15, downtown-bound 6 trains run express from 14th Street-Union Square to Brooklyn Bridge due to construction of the Bleecker Street to Broadway-Lafayette transfer.


At all times until September 13, 2010, the Whitlock Avenue and Morrison-Sound View Avenues stations are closed for rehabilitation. Customers should use the Elder Avenue 6 station, the Simpson Street 25 station, or the Bx4 bus, which provides alternate connecting service between stations.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, February 13 to 5 a.m. Tuesday, February 16, there are no 7 trains running between Times Square-42nd Street and Queensboro Plaza due to track panel installation on the Davis Street curve, installation of new switch at Hunters Point Avenue, track chip-out at Vernon Blvd.-Jackson Avenue, and construction of the Long Island City-Court Square to 45th Road-Court House Square transfer. The NQ and free shuttle buses provide alternate service. Note: 42nd Street Shuttle runs overnight; Q trains are extended to/from Ditmars Blvd.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 13 to 5 a.m. Tuesday, February 16, Queens-bound A trains run local from 168th to 145th Streets, express to Canal Street (except during midnights, when the A is normally local) and resume local service to Euclid Avenue with the following exceptions: 12:01 to 5 a.m., Saturday—Queens-bound trains skip Liberty, Van Siclen and Shepherd Avenues; 12:01 to 5 a.m., Sunday—Queens-bound trains run express from Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets to Utica Avenue; 12:01 to 5 a.m., Monday—Queens-bound trains skip Ralph and Rockaway Avenues. This is due to wall tile cleaning and the Chambers Street Signal Modernization project.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 13 to 5 a.m. Tuesday, February 16, Manhattan-bound A trains run local from Euclid Avenue to Jay Street, then are rerouted onto the F to West 4th Street, where they resume local service to 59th Street, express to 145th Street, then local to 168th Street. This is due to the Chambers Street Signal Modernization project.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 13 to 5 a.m. Tuesday, February 16, there are no C trains running due to Chambers Street Signal Modernization. Customers should take the A instead. Note: A trains run local with exceptions.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 13 to 5 a.m. Tuesday, February 16, D trains run local from 59th Street-Columbus Circle to 145th Street due to the Chambers Street Signal Modernization project. The D substitutes for the C train from 59th Street to 145th Street.


From 10:30 p.m. Friday, February 12 to 5 a.m. Tuesday, February 16, there are no G trains running. This is due to a switch replacement at Bedford-Nostrand Avenues, asbestos removal at Greenpoint Avenue, fan plant work at Jackson Avenue and track maintenance work at various locations. For service between Forest Hills-71st Avenue, customers should take the R during the day and the E during the late night hours. Free shuttle buses run between Queens Plaza and Jay Street. For service to Church Avenue, customers should transfer between the shuttle bus and F trains at Jay Street.


From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, February 13 and Sunday, February 14, the last stop for some Jamaica Center-bound J trains is 111th Street due to track maintenance. Customers should transfer at 111th Street to continue their trip.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 13 to 5 a.m. Tuesday, February 16, Queens-bound N trains run local from Canal Street to 34th Street-Herald Square due to a concrete pour at 14th Street-Union Square.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 13 to 5 a.m. Tuesday, February 16, Queens-bound N trains are rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge between DeKalb Avenue and Canal Street due to the Lawrence Street station rehabilitation and construction of the underground connector to Jay Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 13 to 5 a.m. Tuesday, February 16, uptown-bound Q trains run local from Canal Street to 34th Street-Herald Square due to a concrete pour at 14th Street-Union Square.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, February 12 to 5 a.m. Tuesday, February 16, Q train service is extended to/from Astoria-Ditmars Blvd. due to track panel installation on the Davis Street curve.


From 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Saturday, February 13, downtown-bound Q trains run local from 57th Street-7th Avenue to 34th Street-Herald Square due to track cleaning.


From 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday, February 14, uptown-bound Q trains run local from 34th Street-Herald Square to 57th Street-7th Avenue due to track cleaning.


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, February 13, Sunday, February 14 and Monday, February 15, R trains are re-routed over the Manhattan Bridge between DeKalb Avenue and Canal Street due to Lawrence Street station rehabilitation and construction of the underground connector to Jay Street.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, February 12 to 5 a.m. Tuesday, February 16, the 42nd Street S shuttle runs overnight to replace 7 trains in Manhattan (track panel installation on the Davis Street curve.

Comments

14 responses to “Subway workin’ during the three-day weekend”

  1. ferryboi

    So, there’s no N/R service below Canal St, and the IRT #6 local is running express between Union Sq and Bklyn Bridge. So what train is one supposed to take if they want to go down B’way to South Ferry on the East Side? Nice timing, MTA.

    Guess I’ll take the M6 bus (so named because it travels about 6 mph down B’way). Should get me to the SI Ferry Term’l just in time to miss the boat and wait another hour.

    Reply
    1. Scott E

      Only the downtown 6 is express. Take the uptown 6 and switch to a downtown 4/5 at Union Square.

      Reply
      1. Andrew

        Or walk a few blocks west and take the 1.

        Reply
        1. ferryboi

          Take an uptown 6 so I can take a downtown 4/5. Or walk a “few” blocks (from Lafayatte St to 7th Ave, a lmile-long jaunt). Piece of cake.

          How about scheduling repairs so that the N/R and IRT Lex work is done on separate weekends so the whole East Side from Union Sq to South Ferry is w/o subway service?

          Reply
          1. Sunny

            It seems that nobody understands going uptown to go downtown or vice versa.

            Remember that weekend back in October when there were a whole slew of GO’s that made the media? One of them is in effect this weekend, downtown 1 and 2 run express from 96 to 42 Sts.

            The reporter interviewed some passengers walking all the way from 66 St/Lincoln Center to Times Square just because they don’t understand to ride up to 72nd first. The NY1 video on how the Rockaway station rehab was extended interviewed a passenger who walks to the next station rather (long walk!) than ride back because it is “so confusing”.

            Really???

            Reply
            1. Benjamin Kabak

              This is just part of the general theory that (a) the media picks dumb people to interview in order to make the MTA look worse than it is and (b) some riders are too caught up in themselves to think about going five minutes out of the way. Yeah, it sucks when the trains don’t do what you want them to do, but the MTA has to get this work done. Weekends are the least disruptive times to do it, and if that means taking a train a few stops out of the way, so be it.

              Reply
          2. Andrew

            I don’t know exactly where you’re coming from, but it’s under a mile from every 6 train station between Union Square and Canal to the nearest 1 station.

            Backtracking is the standard way of dealing with outages like this. You’re fortunate in that you have two subway lines a block apart, so if one has an outage, you can possibly rely on the other. Other people don’t have that luxury. They routinely backtrack, or walk to an express stop, or walk (often well over a mile!) to a parallel line, or take a bus to an express stop.

            It’s not like the 6 would even take you to Bowling Green on a normal weekend – you’d have to transfer to the 4 or 5 at Brooklyn Bridge. So this weekend you transfer at Union Square. Give yourself a few extra minutes. The whole East Side still has subway service.

            In my opinion, the one real downside to this combination of outages is that people trying to go to Lower Manhattan on the R will get off at Canal and look for the 6, which of course they can’t get there. (Granted, the J will take them to exactly the same place, but with slightly more walking.) Hopefully conductors realize this in advance and try to convince people to transfer at Union Square instead.

            The R is running over the bridge to accommodate Jay-Lawrence construction. The 6 is running express to accommodate Broadway-Lafayette-Bleecker construction. These are both connections that I think would be very useful to have open, so I’m not going to complain about the construction. At least you don’t have to take a shuttle bus like G train riders.

            Reply
            1. Alon Levy

              It may be a mile between the 6 and the 1, but the crosstown services are so terrible it has to be done on foot. And in a CBD region such as Manhattan, walking a mile is too much to expect of commuters.

              Reply
              1. Andrew

                It’s not a mile between the 6 and the 1. Map it out on Google.

                And nobody expects people to walk to the 1 – I was just offering that as an alternative option for someone who didn’t like the idea of doing what everybody else in the city does when trains are running express in one direction: ride a train in the opposite direction to the first express stop.

                Reply
  2. Saturday service on a Monday :: Second Ave. Sagas | A New York City Subway Blog

    […] « Subway workin’ during the three-day weekend Feb […]

    Reply
  3. Jerrold

    The acronyms here always mystify me.
    What does GO stand for?

    Also, don’t you have to pay another fare in order to switch between uptown and downtown at 72nd St. on the #1?
    Or is that no longer true?

    If it IS still true, then if you want to go downtown from 66 St. and the downtown local is not running, you have to go up to 96 St. to transfer to a downtown local.
    (Not an impossible feat, but the info here might as well be accurate.)

    Reply
    1. Benjamin Kabak

      Also, don’t you have to pay another fare in order to switch between uptown and downtown at 72nd St. on the #1?
      Or is that no longer true?

      That hasn’t been true since 2002 when the new stationhouse opened up between 72nd and 73rd Sts.

      Reply
      1. Jerrold

        Ben, thanks for telling me!
        As you can tell from this, I have not gotten on or off at that station for some years now.

        But, can you or anybody tell me what GO stands for when it’s used here as some kind of acronym, apparently referring to service changes?

        Reply
        1. Andrew

          General Order. A General Order is a formal document distributed to relevant personnel, generally outlining some sort of temporary change to the physical plant of the railroad and/or to the service. So, for instance, a General Order might state that the southbound local track (track 1) is out of service between the interlocking north of 14th St and the interlocking north of Brooklyn Bridge due to construction at Bleecker St, and that southbound 4 and 6 trains should use the express track (track 2) between those points instead. Or, for an example in effect this week, another General Order states that the switches at the interlocking north of Canal St (A/C/E) are temporarily out of service, so C trains remain on the express track (A4) to 145th St, and D trains operate on the local track (A2) from 59th St to 145th St. (Note that this isn’t the only possible way to operate the service given the switch outage – that’s why the details have to be spelled out.)

          The term is often used informally to refer to a planned service change, even though the more critical component of the document is arguably the track outage.

          Reply

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