4 MARCH 2, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM No M train between Midville & Brooklyn for 11 weekends BY ANTHONY GIUDICE AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM @A_GIUDICEREPORT Middle Village and Ridgewood residents already dreading the two-month closure of the M train this summer are going to get a taste of life without the line starting this weekend. The MTA has announced that the M train will be out of service between Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village and Myrtle Avenue-Broadway in Bushwick for 11 weekends between March 3 and June 26, causing disruptions for thousands of riders. The closures will take place on the following weekends: March 4-6; March 11-13; March 18-20; April 8-10; April 22-24; April 29-May 1; May 13-15; May 20-22; June 3-5; June 17-19; and June 24-26. The schedule is weather permitting and subject to last-minute changes. In lieu of M train service, the MTA will operate free shuttle buses that will be making all stops between Metropolitan Avenue and Myrtle Avenue Broadway starting at 11:45 p.m. on Fridays to 5 a.m. on Mondays of the weekend closures. According to the MTA, the weekend shut downs are due to preliminary work replacing tracks panels prior to the full closure of the M line later this year. What has Community Board 5’s (CB 5) Transportation and Public Transit Services Committees most concerned with the weekend shutdowns is that the shuttle buses are expected to make a prohibited turn at the intersection at Metropolitan Avenue and Fresh Pond Road where traffi c is already tied up due to construction of the bridge deck that started at the end of January. “I think originally somebody said to divert shuttle buses up to Eliot Avenue, but then it was explained that Eliot is a terrible mess as it is normally, plus now it’s in worse shape,” said Vincent Arcuri, chair of CB 5, during Tuesday night’s joint meeting. “So what else do you do?” A solution that John Maier, co-chair of the committees, suggested is to have shuttle buses start at two separate locations to avoid the congested intersection and the prohibited turn. “One thing that we could ask them to do is to examine starting shuttles at two diff erent places: one at Fresh Pond and running the route south from Fresh Pond, and the other one running a route from Metro to where they were proposing with their Phase 1 going to Jeff erson Street on the L and Flushing Avenue on the J,” Maier said. “Just pass straight through and not use any illegal turns at Fresh Pond and Metro.” The MTA, however, has said that the shuttle buses will avoid the construction on Metropolitan Avenue and Fresh Pond Road. QNS is awaiting response on the route the shuttle buses will take. The M train was originally scheduled to close for two months — starting Photo courtesy of MTA July 1 — between the Middle Village and Bushwick stops in order to replace the bridge that goes over the Long Island Rail Road’s (LIRR) Montauk Line between Fresh Pond Road and Metropolitan Avenue for Phase 1 of their M train rehabilitation plan. During Phase 2 of the project, the MTA will reconstruct the viaduct connecting the M line with the J/Z lines in Bushwick, which is expected to take 10 more months. Here’s how to get around during M train shutdown Free shuttle buses will replace M train service during the 11 weekends between March and June in which the line is closed between Metropolitan Avenue and Myrtle Avenue-Broadway. The buses will stop near the closed M train stations as follows: • METROPOLITAN AVENUE: On Metropolitan Avenue at Rentar Plaza. • FRESH POND ROAD: On Putnam Avenue at Fresh Pond Road (to Myrtle Avenue), with a connection to the B20 bus; and on Fresh Pond Road at Putnam Avenue (to Metropolitan Avenue), with connection to the Q58 bus. • FOREST AVENUE: On Putnam Avenue at Fairview Avenue (to Myrtle Avenue), with a B20 connection; and on Fairview Avenue at Putnam Avenue (to Metropolitan Avenue), with a connection to the Q58. • SENECA AVENUE: On Seneca Avenue at Palmetto Street with a B38 bus connection. • MYRTLE-WYCKOFF AVENUES: On Gates Avenue at Wyckoff Avenue (to Myrtle Avenue) with connection to the B13; and on Palmetto Street at Myrtle Avenue (to Metropolitan Avenue) with connection to the Q58, both a short walk to the ADA-accessible Myrtle-Wyckoff Avenues L train station. • KNICKERBOCKER AVENUE: On Myrtle Avenue at Knickerbocker Avenue with connection to the B54. • CENTRAL AVENUE: On Myrtle Avenue at Cedar Street (to Myrtle Avenue); and on Myrtle Avenue at DeKalb Avenue (to Metropolitan Avenue), with a B54 connection. • MYRTLE AVENUE-BROADWAY: On Broadway at Myrtle Avenue, with connection to the J and M trains. During each weekend shutdown, M train will operate a shuttle via the J line between Broadway Junction and Essex Street on days and evenings; on late nights, the shuttle will operate between Myrtle Avenue Broadway and Essex Street. Anthony Giudice
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