12 MAY 3, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
HEADING
Still a long way for the MTA to go
Absence supposedly makes
the heart grow fonder, but
we doubt that M train riders
in Ridgewood, Glendale or Middle
Village felt great comfort waiting for
delayed trains even as they got back
their one-seat ride to and from Manhattan
this week.
Aft er 10 months of work and rider
inconvenience, the MTA restored on
April 30 the M line between Middle
Village and midtown Manhattan to full
strength — “on time and on budget,” as
offi cials happily touted that morning.
Then, in true MTA fashion, that
same aft ernoon, service on the M line
between midtown Manhattan and
Middle Village was brought to a halt
because of the kind of mechanical
problems that have plagued the entire
subway system of late.
Much like a comedian’s routine at
a White House Correspondents Dinner,
it would be funny if it weren’t so
darn accurate. Or, in the MTA’s case,
predictable.
The MTA labored for 10 months to
rebuild the M line between Middle Village
and Bushwick, and by all accounts,
they did a sound job. It took two
months to replace a decaying bridge
and another eight months to rebuild a
viaduct connecting the line to the J/Z
tracks above Broadway in Brooklyn.
That’s quite a feat, but then reality
sets in: The M line rebuild was
just one project on one line in a very
dilapidated subway system that
keeps this city moving. The system
suffers from daily mechanical
problems — the curse of continued
reliance upon nearly century-old
technology.
The M line project was done primarily
to bring the line into good working order
just before the MTA closes down the L
line for 15 months beginning next year.
Crews will be repairing damages to the
Canarsie Tube under the East River suffered
during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Let’s be honest: We, the tax-paying
residents and business people of New
York City, will foot the bill for the complete
subway overhaul that must happen
systemwide. The MTA has set an
action plan in place that will require
billions of dollars and many years to
completely fulfi ll every objective.
With federal aid unlikely (barring a
major shift in thinking down in Washington),
it may take a combination of
congestion pricing in Manhattan,
ride-sharing fees, toll hikes on existing
bridges and, yes, tax increases to make
it possible. We don’t have to like it, but
it needs to happen if the subway system
and the city itself are to survive
and thrive for decades to come.
The M line may be whole once again,
but as Robert Frost might have said,
the MTA has other promises to keep
— and miles to go before it sleeps.
EDITORIAL
ESTABLISHED 1908
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VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
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RYAN KELLEY
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