BY MEAGHAN MCGOLDRICK
Nearly eight years after Superstorm
Sandy devastated
the city’s subway infrastructure,
transportation honchos
are moving ahead with a multimillion
dollar repair plan to
the underwater F train tunnel
between Brooklyn and Manhattan,
Metropolitan Transportation
Authority offi cials
announced on Monday.
The project, which is believed
to cost between $50 and
$100 million, will make the
Rutgers Tube the 11th and fi -
nal MTA tunnel under a major
body of water to be rebuilt after
damage sustained from the
2012 storm, agency reps said.
Prep work is expected to
begin on the tunnel, which
stretches from Brooklyn’s York
Street and Manhattan’s East
Broadway stations, in August
— and major work is slated to
start in mid-September, before
wrapping up next spring.
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Most of the work will be done
on nights and weekends to help
“minimize inconvenience” and
avoid weekday shutdowns — a
tactic the agency carries over
from the controversial L train
project, which fi nished ahead
of schedule and under budget
after a years-long partial shutdown
this April.
“The L train project demonstrated
that the MTA can
deliver major projects much
faster and at less cost than anybody
expected,” said President
of MTA Construction and Development
Janno Lieber in a
statement.
The agency also noted that
much of the initial overnight
work will coincide with the already
in-place overnight subway
shutdowns for cleaning
during the pandemic.
The offi cial announcement
comes after years of anxious
speculation from the F train’s
more-than-30,000 riders, who
watched for nearly a half-decade
as state transit honchos
pressed forward with various
plans for the L train tunnel —
which was initially scheduled
to be shuttered for more than a
year, until Gov. Andrew Cuomo
abruptly halted that plan in favor
of a partial closure.
The project will also see the
installation of a cable management
racking system, much
like the one installed in the L
line’s Canarsie tunnel, and feature
track, signal equipment,
and various other communication
The coming repairs to the F train tunnel under the East River will be modeled
after Gov. Cuomo’s plan last year to repair the L train. File photo
upgrades. Structural repairs
and platform accessibility
work at the East Broadway station
and the addition of cellular
service within the tube is also a
part of the new proposal.
Offi cials expect the project
will take just 14 months — making
it the fastest of all Sandy
tube fi xes, which averaged 28
months.
“Once complete, we will
have rehabilitated every tunnel
damaged during Sandy, further
fortifying the system against
future natural disasters,” said
Sarah Feinberg, interim president
of MTA New York City
Transit. “We’re working to
make sure this work leads to as
few disruptions as possible for
our customers and look forward
to getting this vital project underway
in the weeks ahead.”
Light at the end
of the tunnel
MTA moves forward with repairs to F line
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