Weekend 2, 3 Trains Between Brooklyn and Manhattan Will Shut Down for a Full Year

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, NY — L train riders aren't the only ones whose commute is being ruined by Superstorm Sandy years after she breezed through.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced Friday that underwater tunnel carrying the 2 and 3 trains beneath the East River, running from Brooklyn Heights to the Financial District, will be shut down completely on weekends for at least a year beginning in Spring 2017.

City crews will climb inside the 1.2-mile-long tunnel, called the Clark Street Tube, every weekend for 56 weekends to "fix integral components heavily damaged during Superstorm Sandy," MTA officials said.

The Clark Street Tube is one of nine subway tunnels — including the L train's Canarsie Tube — damaged by Sandy. Here's what went down, according to the MTA:

More than half a million gallons of corrosive salt water flooded the tunnel, damaging tracks, signals, pumping equipment, and electrical and switching equipment. Although temporary repairs immediately after the storm enabled a safe return to service, extensive reconstruction is required in the Clark St Tube to ensure that 2 and 3 line operations remain safe and viable.

Weekday 2 and 3 trains will run normally during the yearlong repair project.

Weekends will be a different story. "No 2 or 3 service will be able to operate between Manhattan and Brooklyn on weekends when construction activity is underway," the MTA said Friday. "This will result in temporary, long-term schedule and route adjustments on weekends on the 2 and 3 lines."

The ugly particulars, according to the MTA (here's a subway map for reference):

• On the Manhattan side, 2 trains will be rerouted via the 1 line south of Chambers Street, and will terminate at South Ferry.

• On the Manhattan side, 3 trains will terminate at 14th Street.

• On the Brooklyn side, 2 and 3 trains will terminate at Nevins Street

• No 2 or 3 subway service available at the Park Place, Fulton Street and Wall Street stations (in Manhattan) and the Clark Street, Borough Hall and Hoyt Street stations (in Brooklyn).

And some alternatives:

• 4 service will be extended from Crown Heights-Utica Avenue to New Lots Avenue to replace the 3.

• 5 service will be extended from Bowling Green to Flatbush Avenue-Brooklyn College to replace the 2.

• Both the 4 and 5 will operate as local service south of Nevins Street.

• Free out-of-system transfer will be available between the 1, 2, R and N trains (late nights only) at South Ferry, and the 4 and 5 trains at Bowling Green

These changes will affect more than 200,000 New Yorkers who take the 2 or 3 trains between boroughs each weekend, city officials said.

The schedule above won't be fully implemented until June 2017 — but we'll start seeing some sporadic weekend changes to 2 and 3 service starting in spring, according to the MTA.

Lead photo via Leonel Ponce/Flickr