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Metro North To Repair Prospect Hill Bridge

Posted by
on May 1st, 2017 at 12:29 am

The MTA Metro-North has announced that they will be rebuilding the Prospect Hill Road Bridge via a $9.5M project funded by its 2015-2019 Capital Program. Here is more via the official press release:

MTA Metro-North Railroad today announced that it will rebuild and reopen the Prospect Hill Road Bridge in Southeast through a $9.5 million investment made possible by the MTA’s 2015-2019 Capital Program. The 270-foot-long bridge, which was built in 1910, is located just south of the Southeast station; it carries Prospect Hill Road over the Harlem Line tracks and parts of Metro-North’s Brewster Yard.

The MTA’s 2015-2019 Capital Program, secured by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, calls for the investment of $29.4 billion for the renewal, enhancement or expansion of the region’s transportation infrastructure, is the largest capital program in the MTA’s history.

The 107-year-old bridge, which is presently closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic, has been deemed beyond the point of repair. On Wednesday, the MTA Board approved a contract to the firm Halmar International for the design and construction of the replacement bridge.

The first element of the reconstruction will involve the demolition and removal of the bridge, piers, abutments and roadway approaches, as well as clearing trees, shrubs, stumps and rubbish from the future right-of-way. Utility poles will be excavated, removed and re-installed for structural work; crews will then construct new utilities, including communications, signals, and power. When this work is finished, the stage will be set for crews to install new abutments, piers, bridge substructure and superstructure, roadway approaches, sidewalk, striping, signage, guide rails, fencing, retaining walls, grading and drainage. Metro-North estimates the project will take approximately twenty months to complete.

At the direction of Governor Cuomo, Metro-North issued a design-build contract to expedite the project. Design-build contracts call for a single team of contractors to be responsible for both designing and building an entire project in order to ensure that coordination is seamless, and that work is completed in the shortest possible time frame.

Metro-North Railroad President Joseph Giulietti said: “Metro-North has been working diligently with the Town of Southeast to rebuild the Prospect Hill Bridge. The bridge has been a key component of the town’s infrastructure for over a century, and funds from the MTA’s Capital Program will help maintain it well into the future. We’re pleased that a new Prospect Hill Bridge will soon be a reality for Putnam residents.”

Representative Sean Patrick Maloney said: “Anyone who lives in eastern Putnam knows the congestion and traffic caused by the out-of-commission Prospect Hill Bridge – I am glad to say those days are over. Using a combination of federal dollars and support from MTA and our local community we are investing in rebuilding and reopening the bridge, which will create more economic activity in the area and make life easier for drivers and residents. This announcement is a win-win.”

New York State Senator Terrence Murphy said: “The replacement of the 100-year-old Prospect Avenue Bridge has been a long time coming. The MTA and the local community are to be commended for working together to solve the difficult issue of financing the project. Replacing the bridge will improve the flow of traffic along Route 6, which will enhance the quality of life for local residents.”

Assemblyman Kevin Byrne said: “The rebuilding of the Prospect Hill Road Bridge is much welcomed news. It’s critical that New York keeps its infrastructure strong and running. This project will be an asset for the residents of Southeast and Putnam County.”

Putnam County Executive, MaryEllen Odell said: “The news about the reopening of the Prospect Road Bridge is very exciting for the people of Southeast and Putnam County. I would like to thank the MTA leadership for their partnership and their hard work in making this project a reality.”

Town of Southeast Supervisor, Tony Hay said: “A bridge long taken for granted by many over the years, has proved in its absence how important it is to the vitality of our community. Replacing the former decades-old ‘rickety bridge’ with a state-of-the-art bridge will restore a valuable piece of infrastructure within our community. We look forward to its construction and reopening.”

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Metro North Restores Service To 2 Stations

Posted by
on May 1st, 2017 at 12:25 am

Metro North riders at the Philipse Manor and Scarborough Stations can rejoice as the agency will be restoring service back to these two stations later today. Here is more via the official press release:

MTA Metro-North Railroad today announced it will restore regularly scheduled reverse peak train service to and from Philipse Manor and Scarborough Stations on Monday, May 1. The railroad completed Superstorm Sandy Restoration work that took the section of track between the stations out service, so substitute bus service is no longer required. Metro-North worked closely with contractors to avoid inconveniencing customers, and there will be no future Hudson Line substitute bus service for trains at these stations due to Superstorm Sandy restoration work.

The seven miles of track from north of Tarrytown station to south of Croton Harmon Bridge had been taken out of service last August to support the railroad’s on-going Superstorm Sandy Restoration work. During the nine month outage, contractors made crucial infrastructure improvements along the right of way, including: elevating equipment platforms, and replacing power cables, switches and snow melter systems.

Following Superstorm Sandy, Metro-North is restoring signal and communications systems across 30 miles of the Lower Hudson Line. The railroad awarded a $190 million joint-venture, design build contract for the Hudson Line Sandy Restoration project to Judlau Contracting, TC Electric and URS.AECOM.  The three firms joined forces to work on the project as one design-build team. Metro-North anticipates the completion date for this phase of the Superstorm Sandy restoration work will be January 2018.

Metro-North issued the design-build contract to expedite the project. Design-build contracts call for a single team of contractors – in this instance, three contractors acting as one entity – to be responsible for both designing and building an entire project in order to ensure that coordination is seamless, and that work is completed in the shortest possible time frame.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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MTA To Perform Critical L Line Repairs

Posted by
on May 1st, 2017 at 12:18 am

This past Friday, MTA NYC Transit announced that it will soon be performing some critical repairs on the Canarsie Tunnel to enable the agency to keep running service up until its scheduled 2019 closure. Here is more via the press release I received:

New York City Transit (NYCT) will conduct critical repairs and preparatory work on the L Train Line’s Canarsie Tunnel starting in May in order to ensure the tunnel can remain open until the planned April 2019 closure of the tunnel for full rehabilitation from the damage caused by Superstorm Sandy.

In addition to assuring safe, reliable service through the Canarsie tunnel, work performed during the two scheduled weekend service outages between the 8 Av station in Manhattan and the Broadway Junction station in Brooklyn will allow crews to also begin prep work for the full-scale $477 million in planned repairs in 2019.

In order to minimize the impact of the outages, the work is being done on weekends because the ridership is lower and on a holiday weekend when an extra day can be utilized, which will result in one less weekend outage needed.

During these weekend outages, crews will replace ties from 8 Av to Broadway Junction and install continuously welded rail, which will result in smoother rides for customers and require less upkeep. Crews will inspect the communications systems along the line and perform maintenance on other track and tunnel infrastructure. The preparatory work includes surveys of the tubes, tracks and other areas within the track tunnel, which cannot be performed while trains are in service and the third rail is energized.

SERVICE CHANGES:

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 6, to 5 a.m. Monday, May 8, and on Memorial Day weekend from 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 27, to 5 a.m. Tuesday, May 30,  trains will not operate in both directions between 8 Av and Broadway Junction.  trains will continue to operate between Broadway Junction and Canarsie-Rockaway Pkwy.

To accommodate customers during the weekend outages, MTA New York City Transit will provide a variety of service alternatives and free shuttle buses for subway customers, including:

For service between Manhattan and Brooklyn: During both weekends, on each Saturday from 6 a.m. to midnight and from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. each Sunday, trains will operate from Middle Village-Metropolitan Av to Manhattan via the Sixth Avenue B Train, D train, F train, M train  line, stopping at Lexington Av/63 St F trainQ train, then onto the Second Avenue Q train line to 96 St. Late nights on Saturday into Sunday,  service will operate its regular scheduled service between Middle Village-Metropolitan Av to Myrtle Av.

In Manhattan: The M14A and M14D serve L train line stops along 14th Street.

For service within Brooklyn: Free shuttle buses will operate along the  route in Brooklyn, following three routes:

  • Between the Marcy Av JM and Lorimer St L stations, stopping at Bedford Av L  and Hewes St JM
  • Between the Lorimer St L and Myrtle-Wyckoff Avs LM stations, making  station stops at Graham Av, Grand St, Montrose Av, Morgan Av, Jefferson St, and DeKalb Av
  • Between Myrtle-Wyckoff Avs  and Broadway Junction , making L station stops at Halsey St, Wilson Av and Bushwick Av-Aberdeen St

Overnight work is also scheduled on the L Line between Lorimer St and Broadway Junction from Tuesday, May 23 to Friday, May 26 and from Wednesday, May 31 to Friday, June 2 from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m.  Free shuttle buses will operate along the L route in Brooklyn making stops at the impacted stations.

CANARSIE TUNNEL CLOSURE

The MTA has planned a full closure of the Canarsie Tunnel in spring 2019 to perform major rehabilitation and repair of the tunnel’s two tubes, which were flooded during Superstorm Sandy. Overhauls of two other flooded under-river tunnels, Montague  and Greenpoint , were successfully completed with similar service outages.

The Canarsie Tunnel suffered extensive damage to tracks, signals, switches, power cables, signal cables, communication cables, lighting, cable ducts and bench walls.

To expedite construction and minimize service disruptions for hundreds of thousands of  Line customers, the MTA chose to completely close the Canarsie Tunnel in both directions during the repairs to decrease the work timeline, which was initially expected to take 18 months. In March, the MTA Board approved a $477 million contract that calls for completing the work in 15 months. During the tunnel repairs,  service will continue to operate within Brooklyn.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Service Diversions 04-27-17

Posted by
on April 27th, 2017 at 2:30 pm

I have just updated the Service Diversions for the upcoming weekend through the end of next week.

Make sure to follow @TransitBlogger on Twitter as I am using it more often. Also if you are into indie music make sure to follow @IndMusicReview & @SurgeFM!

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MTA Announces Off Peak Belmont Service

Posted by
on April 27th, 2017 at 2:29 pm

The MTA has announced off peak service to Belmont Racetrack. Here are the details via the press release I received:

Thoroughbred racing returns to Belmont Park on Friday, April 28, as the racetrack’s 2017 Spring-Summer meet gets underway. And once again, the Long Island Rail Road and New York Racing Association (NYRA) have joined together to provide daily train service for racing fans. Fans who ride the LIRR can get $1 off grandstand admission by showing a train ticket or MTA eTix app screen.

The LIRR operates two off-peak round-trips to Belmont Park each racing day and lots of extra service on Belmont Stakes day, Saturday, June 10. The LIRR has posted information about fares and travel tips. For train departure times, the LIRR has released its Belmont Park Spring Meet Timetable with information through May 21. Copies are available at stations and at www.mta.info/lirr. In all, the LIRR will offer service to Belmont Park for all 54 days of racing through Sunday, July 16.

Fans making the short trip to Belmont Park aboard the LIRR will once again find a newly refurbished Belmont Park Station with its new 10-car long high level platforms, new staircases, new lighting and a ramp that provides platform access to mobility-impaired customers. The upgrades were completed in the 2015 Belmont Stakes.

The Belmont spring/summer meet also will feature a second big event, the internationally themed “Stars & Stripes Festival” featuring the Grade 1, $1.25 million Belmont Derby and the $1 million Belmont Oaks on Saturday, July 8. And of course, in the weeks leading up to the Belmont Stakes, Belmont Park will be the place to watch the first two legs of the Triple Crown as it hosts a Kentucky Derby simulcast on Saturday, May 6 and a Preakness Stakes simulcast on Saturday, May 20.

LIRR Service to Belmont Park on Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays

To Belmont

The LIRR’s daily Belmont Special will depart from Penn Station at 10:52 a.m., making stops at Woodside at 11:04 a.m. and Jamaica at 11:13 a.m. and arriving at Belmont Station at 11:27 a.m. Fans from Brooklyn can connect via an 10:35 a.m. departure from Atlantic Terminal.

A second Belmont train departs from Jamaica at 12:20 p.m. Jamaica can be reached via an easy connection from the EJZ subway lines, an 11:38 a.m. LIRR departure from Penn Station, an 11:35 a.m. LIRR departure from Atlantic Terminal, or westbound trains from Long Island.

Returning from the Park

Trains will depart Belmont Station at 3:42 p.m. and approximately 6:25 p.m. The second train is timed to depart approximately 30 minutes after the last race, and the departure time is subject to change based on the timing of racing events.

LIRR Service to Belmont Service on Saturdays, Sundays & Holidays

To Belmont

On Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, the Belmont Special departs Penn Station at 11:04 a.m., stopping at Woodside at 11:16 a.m. and Jamaica at 11:27 a.m., arriving at Belmont at 11:43 a.m.

A second Belmont train departs from Jamaica at 12:30 p.m. Jamaica can be reached via an easy connection from the EJZ subway lines, an 11:51 a.m. LIRR departure from Penn Station, an 11:42 a.m. LIRR departure from Atlantic Terminal, or westbound trains from Long Island.

A second train leaves Penn Station at 11:51 a.m. and arrives in Jamaica at 12:12 p.m., where customers change for a 12:30 p.m. shuttle train to Belmont that arrives at 12:43 p.m. Customers coming from Brooklyn can take the 10:42 a.m. and 11:42 a.m. trains from Atlantic Terminal and connect with the Belmont trains at Jamaica.

Returning from the Park

Trains will depart Belmont Park at 4:41 p.m. and approximately 6:12 p.m. The second train is timed to depart approximately 30 minutes after the last race, and the departure time is subject to change based on the timing of racing events.

MTA Bus Routes Extended; Fans Can Change from the Subway

The MTA’s Q2 and Q110 bus routes will once again be extended to Belmont Park for the upcoming Spring/Summer racing season.  Effective Friday, April 28, 2017, until Sunday, July 16, 2017, the Q2/Q110 buses will discharge, layover, and pick-up customers in designated stops at Belmont Park Racetrack bus terminal on racing days.

Going to the park, customers exit the bus at the escalator leading to the LIRR overpass.  Leaving the park, the buses pull up to the designated Q2 and Q110 bus stops adjacent to the LIRR station.  These changes will only be in effect when Belmont Park Racetrack is open.  The Q2 connects to the F subway line at 169th Street and Hillside Avenue and at 179th Street and Hillside Avenue.  The Q110 bus connects to the EJZ subway lines at Jamaica Center-Parsons-Archer.

Purchasing LIRR Tickets in Advance

To avoid higher on-board fares and save time, customers should purchase round-trip tickets in advance by using MTA eTix, the MTA’s new free mobile ticketing app where you can purchase LIRR or Metro-North tickets anytime, anywhere, or by purchasing tickets from ticket machines or windows.

City Ticket is not valid for travel to or from Belmont Park. Belmont Package tickets are available at LIRR ticket offices as well as from gray, blue and green ticket machines at stations. Tickets are NOT sold at Belmont Station. Belmont tickets cannot be purchased through the alphabetized station listing screen on the ticket machines. Round-trip tickets are not sold aboard trains.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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