UPDATE: The shutdown has been officially averted. On the night of January 17th the MTA issued a statement saying, “total shutdown of both tunnels and all service scheduled for April 27 will not be necessary.”
This follows Gov. Cuomo’s findings via engineers from Cornell and Columbia Universities that a total closing of the Canarsie Tube could be avoided with occasional night and weekend shutdowns, and running trains in one tunnel.
On the day before Halloween, the MTA New York City Transit (MTA) and the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) announced the official date when the L-train will cease its journey through the Carnarsie tube under the East River for 15-months of the tube’s reconstruction. That date is April 27, 2019. The last day that folks will be able to ride the L to and fro from Brooklyn’s Bedford Avenue to Manhattan’s 8th Avenue stations will be Friday, April 26th. The L-train will continue its Brooklyn side service (Bedford Avenue to Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway) during this shutdown.
Starting in January, the MTA and NYCDOT will hold a series of open houses, pop-up events, and set up mobile information centers to help L-train riders plan routes using new alternate transportation options.
“We’re continuing unprecedented efforts at public outreach, responding to local communities and giving as much notice as possible on key dates in this project,” said NYC Transit President Andy Byford.
DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg stated, “DOT crews [are] now putting down new street markings for bus lanes and bike lanes, we are deeply committed to having our streets ready for the tunnel closure next April.”
Before th, the L-train will continue to have sporadic mini-shutdows on overnights and weekends. For updates on these closings check this page: http://web.mta.info/nyct/service/Canarsie_L/index.htm . There will be no L-train to Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn on the following weekends: November 10-11 (possibly 17-18); all weekends in February; March 2-3, 9-10, and 16-17 (yes, that is St. Patrick’s Day).
Information on the train tunnel repairs, the alternate service changes and the station improvement projects are available at http://mta.info/LTunnelReconstruction.
The Greenline 