MTA maps L train service changes and alternative transit options ahead of partial shutdown
Starting Friday, April 26 through the summer of 2020, L train service will be suspended on weeknights and weekends. The halt of train service is part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s revised plan to repair the Canarsie Tunnel, proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in January as an alternative to shuttering the line completely. While the L train will run normally during peak times for the next year and a half, service on the line will be reduced starting as early as 8 p.m. on weekdays. To ease the impending headache for commuters, the MTA has released a map that shows service alternatives, transfer points, and planned wait times for the L train.
On weeknights, L trains run every 20 minutes between Brooklyn and Manhattan between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m., with trains running every 10 minutes between Lorimer Street and Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway. Overnight L train service runs every 20 minutes between 1:30 a.m. and 5 a.m.
During the weekend, commuters should expect reduced L train service overnight and between 6 a.m. and 1: 30 a.m., with trains running every 20 minutes.
The MTA plans to boost service across multiple subway lines. The M train will run later during the weekday and run every eight minutes on the weekend between Essex Street and 96th Street- Second Avenue. Five additional trips on the G train will be made between 8:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. Weekend G service runs every eight minutes instead of every 10.
The “Williamsburg Link” provides two new bus routes for service on weekday and weeknights when there is no L service. The buses will run between every three and 10 minutes. And extra service will be added to the M14A bus to connect with the Delancey-Essex Street F, J, and M station.
The plan for a busway on 14th Street–originally proposed to reduce car traffic during the shutdown–has been scrapped. Plus, the HOV lane proposed for the Williamsburg Bridge and a plan to bring extra ferry service will also likely be abandoned.
While the L train repairs are expected to take between 15 and 18 months to complete, there is still no contract for the work. But the agency has begun to prepare for the tunnel repairs by suspending service starting this week between Brooklyn and Manhattan for 10 weeknights in order to install lights and deliver materials.
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