Concerns over a long-term L-pocalypse may have been unfounded, a new published report says.
The Daily News reports that the Canarsie Tunnel rehabilitation is actually a month ahead of schedule — and the whole project may be finished by April 2020.
All the major demolition work on the East River tunnel should be done by the end of this month, said Wayne Faulkner of JMT, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s consultant on the project. That part of the job includes removing 6,800 feet of crumbling concrete duct bank that houses long-abandoned Con Ed power lines on each side of the tunnel’s tubes.
The broken-up concrete was taken to the MTA’s Linden Yard in Brownsville, Brooklyn via work trains, said the MTA’s head of capital construction, Janno Lieber.
“One of the advantages of the approach that was taken when the project adjusted means and methods was you didn’t have to take all that huge amount of debris out through the Avenue A exit [in the East Village],” Lieber said.
Work was expected to take roughly 15 to 18 months.
In late April, the MTA started its service reduction to repair the Sandy-damaged tubes between Manhattan and Brooklyn, ramping down L times to 20-minute waits starting at 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. during the week and around the clock on weekends.
The slowdown came about back on Jan. 3 when Gov. Cuomo made that surprise announcement that the L-train wouldn't be completely shut down as previously planned.
Meanwhile, seems like a good time to check in on the progress of the new L-train entrances — with elevators — that are coming to Avenue A and 14th Street...
... and the northern side of 14th Street...
The MTA shared this photo back in April showing an Avenue A entrance from below...
[Trent Reeves/MTA Capital Construction]
The work on a new entrance a block away from the First Avenue station started in July 2017 to help relieve congestion at the stop.
In late May, Town & Village reported that a Stuy Town resident first made a request for an Avenue A stop — in 1947!
A Stuy Town resident who moved into the complex when it opened in 1947 wrote a letter to the Brooklyn Manhattan Transit Corporation, which operated the L at the time, asking if the transit agency would expand the First Avenue station by building an entrance at Avenue A. Resident Reginald Gilbert of 625 East 14th Street argued that pressure on the station from the influx of new residents made the new entrance a necessity.
Not sure what will be open first — the new entrances or the Trader Joe's right there at 432 E. 14th St.
Previously on EV Grieve:
To L and back: Reactions and questions over Gov. Cuomo's surprise subway announcement
Report: MTA commits to a shorter work day for the 14th Street L-train rehab