Transportation
Pulling the brakes on
L Train shutdown
www.qns.com I LIC COURIER I JANUARY 2019 41
BY MARK HALLUM
With only four months to go before
the Canarsie Tunnel was scheduled for
closure for Superstorm Sandy-related
repair, Governor Andrew Cuomo is halt-ing
the plans in favor of weekend and
overnight work instead.
Originally expected to be a 15-month
long total closure of the tunnel, Cuomo
announced on Jan. 3 that instead, one
side will stay open while work is com-pleted
on the other. That means, of
course, that the project will now take
up to five years to complete.
Not only that, but a panel of experts
will also be revamping the main corridor
between Brooklyn and Manhattan with
a design not yet used by transit agen-cies
in the United States that wraps
the bench-walls – raised walkways
that hold electrical components – with
fiber optics that can detect a variety of
activities such as unauthorized people
on the tracks.
“This state is the most aggressive
state in the United States that does the
kind of infrastructure that we do,” Cuomo
said. “Nobody has ever used fiberoptic
cables on bench-walls to detect motion
… No designer wants to give you a plan
that hasn’t been done before. They want
to give you a design that’s tried and true.”
Cuomo said the structure of the tun-nel
is in good shape but components of
the tunnel are not since it was flooded
with corrosive seawater in 2012, and the
bench-wall is critical for carrying electri-cal
infrastructure. The fiberoptic cables
will be racked against the bench-wall,
which he said is the most deteriorated
feature of the tunnel, as opposed to
buried under the concrete.
Fernando Ferrer, the interim Chair
of the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority, said this new plan, despite
closing one traffic in one direction, will
not change service for commuters from
what is already expected on the line
with cuts to weekend and night service.
This work is expected to start about
the same time the tunnel closure was
scheduled for – April 27.
Brandon Mosley, a founding member
and creative director for Access Queens,
indicated that the change in plans for
the L train should come as a relief for
Queens commuters who still face grow-ing
congestion.
“While it’s a good thing that Gover-nor
Cuomo and his team are thinking
‘faster, cheaper and better,’ it’s a rather
shame to see that so many man-hours
were wasted for this last-minute revela-tion,”
Mosley said. “State officials would
benefit from taking a step back to really
think strategically at a high-level for the
city’s needs at large, rather than what
feels like arbitrary ad-hoc decisions.
People have already adjusted their lives
and three years’ worth of work that the
MTA spent on planning for the L train
shutdown, was all for naught. The silver
lining in all of this — for those of us
who rely on the 7 train, we won’t have
the extra hardship of transit woes and
crowding (beyond normal), that is until
Amazon comes.”
A panelist from Cornell University
said the fiberglass wrap around the
bench-wall is not a “Band-Aid,” as one
reporter had put it, but a structural fea-ture
in itself.
Corrosion was not effecting the con-crete
of the tunnel, but the cables within
the bench-walls and so corrosion will
not continue if it is sealed over without
a rebuild.
Ferrer said the project will not be
re-bid at this time and the cost will still
be done “within the envelope.”
The Riders Alliance, a transit advo-cacy
group, was skeptical of the plan,
however, questioning whether or not the
announcement was little more than a
photo op for the governor.
“The governor’s plan may or may not
work, but you’ll pardon transit riders
for being skeptical that a last-minute
Hail Mary idea cooked up over Christ-mas
is better than what the MTA came
up with over three years of extensive
public input,” John Raskin, executive
director of the group, said. “We need
a full public release of the details of
Governor Cuomo’s idea, as well as the
mitigation plans that will allow hundreds
of thousands of L train riders to get
around during the inevitable shutdowns
and slowdowns in service. Actual transit
professionals, who owe nothing to the
governor or the MTA, should evaluate
whether this is sound engineering or a
political stunt that will ultimately leave
riders in the lurch.”
Up to 225,000 people commute on
the L train everyday and the 7 train was
expected to take the brunt of displaced
commuters from Brooklyn as it would be
one of just a few nearby tunnels under
the East River.
Communications-based Train Control
was installed on the 7 train throughout
October to prepare for the overflow.
The Cuomo administration got the
idea to wrap the bench-walls with fiber-glass
and fiber optic cables from work
to stabilize the old Tappan Zee Bridge.
Photo courtesy of Governor Cuomo’s office
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