Second Ave. Sagas

Reminder: FASTRACK returns to 6th Ave.

Written by

Benjamin Kabak

in

FASTRACK hits 6th Avenue tonight. Click for the much larger version.

The FASTRACK express heads to 6th Ave. on Monday night, and Transit has laid out the week’s service closures. From 10 p.m.-5 a.m. each night beginning on the evening of Monday, May 14 and ending on the morning on Friday, May 18, there will be no service along 6th Ave. between 57th St. and West 4th St. in both directions. Here’s how service will operate instead:

  • D trains are rerouted and operate in two sections:
    • D trains will operate between 205th Street and 59th Street-Columbus Circle, then via the C line between 59th Street-Columbus Circle and West 4th Street, then via the F line between West 4th Street and 2nd Avenue, the last stop.
    • D trains will operate between Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue and 36th Street in Brooklyn, then via the R line between 36th Street and Whitehall Street in Lower Manhattan, the last stop.
  • F trains operate via the E line between Roosevelt Avenue and West 4th Street in both directions. For service to Lexington Avenue/63rd Street, Roosevelt Island and 21st Street-Queensbridge, customers should take the Q. Q service will be extended to 21st Street-Queensbridge via the F line after 57th Street-7th Avenue.
  • Manhattan-bound B and M service in Brooklyn and Queens ends at 9:30 p.m. Service in Manhattan is available until 10 p.m.
  • Free Shuttle buses provide connecting service between the Grand Street D station and both the Canal Street N/Q/R/6 and Broadway-Lafayette D/F stations.

Leave plenty of time for alternate travel. At least with the Yankees on the road this week, post-game D service from Yankee Stadium will be only marginally impacted.

Comments

12 responses to “Reminder: FASTRACK returns to 6th Ave.”

  1. Alek

    This fastrack is very interesting. Especially the Q.runs to 21st queensbridge. Also the D running to whitehall. Anybody agree?

    Reply
  2. TP

    Asked about this before because it wasn’t clear, but now that it is, why is the D running local on the UWS? What does that give them? Are they doing work on the express track there too?

    Also the last A express leaves each end shortly after 10pm so I’d assume that this map is only accurate for a short while before the A goes local.

    And what’s happening with the map becoming extremely simplified in Lower Manhattan and omitting the 1/2/3 stations below 14th? Argh the whole map hurts my head now that I actually look at it.

    Reply
    1. Andrew

      The D has to run local south of 59th in order to get to/from Broadway-Lafayette. It could run express north of 59th, but it’s easier to keep it local, especially for the first few hours, when service is more frequent.

      To avoid the congestion on the local track (which the D, E, and F have to use), the A runs express all night.

      The map is intended to show only the parts of lines that are useful as alternates for the B/D/F/M, but it does give the impression that the 1/2/3 isn’t running south of 14th. I think it would be less confusing if it just showed everything.

      Reply
      1. TP

        So the A is running express but the D is running local, which is the reverse of the usual late night service! That should be explicitly stated somewhere ’cause that’s confusing and in no way intuitive to anybody based on the 6th Avenue track being out of service.

        Reply
        1. Josh K

          Yeah, they should have included that in the fastrack plans. I got really confused at 50th St because it said that A and C trains were not running nights at 50th St. Which is true, but I didn’t realize that D trains effectively replaced them and the flyer was not clear about it.

          Reply
  3. Billy G

    Ack. Why not extend the J over the M’s former territory (yes, plus a little bit)? Why bifurcate the D? That seems more confusing. If the J is in a place that it normally isn’t, people would have to know something is up. Otherwise, they’ll be in for a special surprise when they try to ride that D and it doesn’t go over the bridge. Also, that would provide the Brooklyn non-D-riders the transfers at Canal St. and BB+CH directly, and would probably do away with the need for the shuttle at Grand. Either Bowery or Essex should be close enough of a walk.

    Yes, the J would have to go through that slow tunnel. The one that hasn’t been in revenue service since the M closed up, correct?

    Reply
    1. Andrew

      Extending the J would entail transferring a decent number of 8 car trains to Coney Island each evening and then back to East New York early in the morning. D riders from Brooklyn already have connections at Atlantic-Pacific, Jay, Court, and Whitehall – what else do they need?

      Reply
    2. Benjamin

      I think they also don’t do this to avoid confusion. The easiest way for this to work would be for the F and D to switch lines in Brooklyn — send the D down the Culver line, via W 4th, and have the F run to 21st St-Queensbridge and 63rd/Lex into the Q tunnels, over the bridge, and down 4th Ave to the West End Line. Or switch lines in Queens/Bronx. But I imagine the MTA thinks its too confusing to explain to straphangers (it probably is) so they just go with bifurcating the D.

      Reply
  4. Duke

    Am I the only one who dislikes the way the Q extension is rendered? It should go north from 7th Ave, not 6th.

    Yes, I get that the idea is to show that it replaces the F and that the general audience has neither any clue where the tunnel connection actually is nor any reason to care, but the map this way is nonetheless both a blatant lie and aesthetically hideous. Hopefully they do it right once SAS opens and the map is permanent.

    Reply
    1. pea-jay

      I would hope so too. This map (along all the rest of the fast track maps) strikes me as cartographically lazy.

      Reply
    2. Matthias

      The proposed SAS map at least shows it correctly.

      Reply
  5. throcko

    Don’t forget free shuttle buses between 21 St-QB and Queens Plaza! Seems they forgot to put that on the map, but they are running.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More posts