The 10-Month M Train Shutdown Begins Saturday

BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN — Gershwin got it wrong. It may be summertime, but for commuters, the living is extremely difficult.

It will become especially difficult in Bushwick starting Saturday, when the M train shuts down for the next ten months between Myrtle Avenue-Broadway and Myrtle Wyckoff Avenues.

The closure is part of $163 million and year-long reconstruction plan that will leave 60,000 straphangers stranded in Bushwick and Queens, and is expected to occur in two stages:

Phase One: The M train will not run between Myrtle Avenue-Broadway in Bushwick and Middle Village-Metropolitan Avenue in Queens from July 1 to Sept. 1.

During Phase One, a local shuttle bus will hit all M line stops between Middle Village and Myrtle Avenue and an express shuttle bus will stop at Marcy Avenue, Jefferson Avenue and Middle Village.

Phase Two: The M will not run between the Myrtle Avenue-Broadway and Myrtle-Wyckoff Avenues from Sept. 1 to April 30.

During Phase Two, a shuttle train will run between Middle Village and Myrtle-Wyckoff Avenues, a shuttle bus will run between Myrtle-Wyckoff Avenues and Myrtle Avenue-Broadway, and J, M, and Z trains will make all local stops between Marcy Avenue-Broadway and Broadway Junction.

The shutdown will allow the MTA plans demolish and rebuild the 104-year-old Myrtle Viaduct in Bushwick and the Fresh Pond Bridge in Ridgewood, both of which have infrastructure that has aged and begun to crumble.

Many Bushwick residents will find commuting difficult for another reason — a lack of caffeine. Little Mo will be forced to close for the next two months so that the MTA can access the viaduct.

Photo courtesy of the MTA