Emergency MTA Meeting On L Train Plans Scheduled For Tuesday

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — The MTA Board has scheduled an emergency meeting to review Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposal for reconstructing the L train, nearly two weeks after he first announced it would avoid a 15-month shutdown of the line that had been in the works for three years.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Sunday that the board would meet at noon on Tuesday to go over the plans. Cuomo had called for the emergency meeting to be held when he said on Jan. 4 that the board would need to approve any new plans before they go forward, a seeming backtrack from his and MTA Acting Chair Fernando Ferrer's announcement just a day earlier that the L-pocolypse had been averted.

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The new plan, devised by Cuomo's team of engineers along with MTA's experts, would shutdown only one of the Canarsie tunnel's two lanes at a time in order to fix damage caused in superstorm Sandy. Consulting firm WSP will recommend to the board Tuesday that the plans be approved.

"WSP has studied the proposed design alternatives and the preliminary new construction schedule developed by the construction manager," MTA said in a release. "WSP will be recommending to the Board that it pursue the modified plan as a better alternative, as it does not require a total shutdown of train service."

Should the board approve the new proposal, it would avoid the 15-month shutdown of the L train that was scheduled to begin in April. The MTA had said for months that the shutdown was the only way to rehab the damaged line, causing panic among commuters and a sting to the real estate market as renters fled the area.

Cuomo decided to visit the tunnel with his team of experts from Columbia University and Cornell University in December.

The MTA Board said the meeting will also include a discussion about hiring a new consultant to oversee the operation, who would report directly to the chairman and the board.

Photo by Ciara McCarthy/Patch