G & R Service Loss Due To Sandy Repairs
Nearly 8 months after Hurricane Sandy ripped through our region, the repercussions of the storm are still being felt. A few days ago, the MTA announced that due to the severe damage sustained in the Montague Tube (links the 
between Manhattan & Brooklyn) it will be forced to shutdown service through it for up to 14 months.
Unfortunately the bad news does not end there as the Greenpoint Tube (connects the 
between Brooklyn & Queens) will close for 12 weekends through the rest of 2013 as well. Here is more courtesy of Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times:
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Wednesday outlined shutdown plans for later this year on the R and G trains, a result of repairs to tunnels damaged during Hurricane Sandy.
The Montague tube, which carries the R train between Brooklyn and Manhattan, will close for up to 14 months starting the first week of August, officials said, forcing as many as 65,000 daily riders to seek alternative routes.
The train will run in two sections on weekdays, from Forest Hills-71st Avenue in Queens to Whitehall Street in Manhattan, and from Court Street to Bay Ridge-95th Street in Brooklyn. On weekends, the R will be rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge, meaning it will not stop at Court Street or Jay Street-MetroTech in Brooklyn or City Hall, Cortlandt Street, Rector Street and Whitehall Street in Lower Manhattan. Overnight, the N train, which is typically rerouted through the tunnel to replace the R, will continue running over the Manhattan Bridge.
The G train’s Greenpoint tube will close for 12 weekends this year, forcing the closing of the three northernmost stops: Court Square, 21st Street and Greenpoint Avenue. But the trains will still run between Church and Nassau Avenues. The affected weekends are July 6, July 13, July 20, Aug. 3, Aug. 10, Aug. 17, Aug. 24, Sept. 7, Sept. 28, Oct. 5, Dec. 7 and Dec. 14. There will also be a five-week shutdown in summer 2014, the authority said. A shuttle bus service will run between Brooklyn and Queens.
“Closing these two subway tubes is a difficult but necessary step to restore them to the condition they were in before Sandy struck,” Fernando Ferrer, the authority’s acting chairman, said in a statement. “The temporary repairs that returned these tubes to operation after Sandy are not enough to provide reliable service. This is unfortunately the reality of recovery from Sandy: The damage is insidious and continuing, and repairing it will take billions of dollars over several years.”
He added that there was “no alternative” to completing the work immediately.
Clcik here for the complete report.
Sadly these closures do not come as a surprise to me considering the damage I had heard about right after the storm. The only shock might have been the length in time to announce that such closures would be occurring.
As one would expect, some local officials took this opportunity to score some infamous “Constituent Brownie Points” by sharing their outrage at what the MTA is doing to their local residents. Honestly the idiots behind these sentiments do not deserve the publicity of having their names mentioned but they know exactly who they are.
What I will say is this to those individuals, grow the hell up! The MTA for all the wrong that it does is not at fault for having to repair damage from such a powerful storm that is rarely seen in our region. I rather they go all the way with their repairs versus doing patch work here & there even if it means lengthy closures as the end result will hopefully be worth it.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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