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Another run of L train disruptions are coming to Brooklyn this week, giving everyone affected a taste of what's to come when the line shuts down for 15 months in 2019.
As a part of the MTA's Fastrack program, service on the L will be suspended in both directions between Lorimer Street and Broadway Junction between 10pm and 5pm from April 3-7 and 10-14. Free shuttle buses will make all stops between the closed stations, and staff will be on hand to help direct disgruntled riders who didn't get the memo.
The closure will allow crews to perform repairs, maintenance and do some cleaning along the stretch of the subway, which is still suffering from damage that resulted from Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The MTA performed three weeks of Fastrack work on the L last August, during which time workers replaced 109 rails, 4,682 friction pads, 520 tie blocks, 5,413 track plates and removed a whopping 256,000 pounds of debris from the tracks. On top of all that, 715 leaks were grouted, 2,400 feet of handrails were repaired and stations were touched up from top-to-bottom. Getting all that work done in just three weeks is actually pretty impressive, but don't tell that to anyone who had to jump on a late night shuttle bus on their way home.
The next Fastrack shutdown will take place along the J train in lower Manhattan on weeknights during the first two weeks in May. Closures from the program will go into effect nearly every week this summer, providing New Yorkers in every corner of the city with a chance to have a hellish late night subway experience (who ever said NYC wasn't egalitarian?).