Scenes from above the construction at the Fulton St. Transit Center. (Photos by Peter Kaufman/Ink Lake Blog)
Charitably, the MTA is three years away from wrapping up construction at the Fulton St. Transit Center complex, and as the agency moves ahead with the work at a fairly brisk pace, weekend travel into and out of Brooklyn gets snarled at the new hub. This week, as a lead-in to our service advisories, we have some good stuff out of the construction site.
First, we have some pictures of the Hub. Peter Kaufman of the Ink Lake Blog works above the construction site and has been snapping some pictures as work crews raise a building there. The three thumbnails open larger versions in new windows, and the building is slowly coming together. I look forward to watching the progress via Peter’s camera, and I thank him for the photos.
Underground, things are about to get very, very messy. The MTA is on the verge of replacing a ramp and two staircases that connect the lower-level Broadway/Nassau St. stop with the rest of the complex. Per the press release:
In this current phase of construction, the AC mezzanine, a ramp and two staircases will be removed and replaced over the course of two weekends: January 9-11 and January 16-18. In addition, other subway work taking place on those weekends will affect travel in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. Effective Monday, January 18, a new temporary stair will replace the ramp that connects AC trains to the uptown 45 trains.
Also, the remaining platform stairs will each lead to a specific transfer or street exit. Riders are encouraged to consult way-finding signs and brochures that are available at station booths in midtown and lower Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn. Transit personnel will be on hand both weekends and on Monday, January 18 and Tuesday, January 19, to help direct customers.
One of the aforementioned brochures — detailing the various weekend work and its impact on those traveling through Fulton St. — is available here as a PDF.
To get users through the mess of service advisories, Transit has produced what they call a Life Sized Map of the change. These maps — three feet by four feet — are hanging up stations along the IRT lines that are affected by the Fulton St. work, and they help visualize the various reroutings plaguing popular subway lines. Riders, says Transit, are more apt to notice these maps than they are the oft-ignored service advisory signs that decorate subway stations every weekend. The LSM is embedded below, and you can click on it for a larger image. After the map — and the jump — this weekend’s service changes.