How The MTA Plans To Cope With The L Train Shutdown: More Buses, Ferries And Trains

BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN — Buses and ferries will have to pick up the slack — or about 225,000 people — during the L train shutdown, according to a new MTA plan.

The MTA will shut down L train service between Brooklyn and Manhattan for 15 months, starting in April 2019, while the Canarsie Tunnel undergoes extensive repairs.

Commuters living in Williamsburg and Bushwick are going to need to find a new way to travel, which is why the MTA released a massive proposal to amp up ferry, bus and alternative train service.

Here’s what the MTA has in mind:

Ferries:

• Temporary ferry service between North Sixth Street in Brooklyn and East 20th Street in Manhattan
• Eight ferries would depart per hour, or about every 8 minutes, from 6 a.m. until midnight from Sunday through Thursday and until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday
• Each boat would carry about 150 passengers, or 1,200 per hour
• Transfers would be available from the ferry to the Select Bus system

Buses:

• The Williamsburg Bridge would get lanes designated for buses and carpools in both directions
• Three new limited-stop, high frequency bus line would run connect northern Brooklyn and Manhattan
• Route One would make stops in North Williamsburg, South Williamsburg and at the Delancey Street/Essex Street F, J, M, Z train station, the Prince Street R and W train station, and the Broadway-Lafayette B, D, F, M, 6 train station.
• Route Two would make stops at the Grand Street L train station, the Delancey Street/Essex Street F, J, M, Z train station, and the First Avenue L train station
• Route Three would make stops at the Grand Street L train station, the Delancey Street/Essex Street F, J, M, Z train station, the Prince Street R and W train station, and the Broadway-Lafayette Street B, D, F, M, 6 train station
• A new 14th Street Select Bus Service route would run between Stuyvesant Cove at East 20th Street and Avenue C to First Avenue, Third Avenue, Union Square, Sixth Avenue and Eighth Avenue

Trains:

• Subway service would increase on the G, J, M, and Z lines
• J and Z trains would run local from Myrtle Avenue to Marcy Avenue
• M trains would run between 96th Street and Second Avenue weekends and overnight
• Free MetroCard transfers would be available between the Broadway G train station and the Lorimer Street J, M, Z train stations as well as between the Junius Street 3 train station and the Livonia Avenue L train station
• The following stations would be updated to improve passenger flow:
  • Marcy Avenue J, M, Z train station
  • Court Square G train station
  • Flushing Avenue J, M, Z train station entrance at Fayette Street

The MTA and the DOT will present these proposed plans to the community for feedback throughout the summer and fall, then release a final plan by the end of 2017.

Photo courtesy of the MTA