Pols suggest R train be split to save Brooklyn riders from Manhattan delays
A few Brooklyn elected officials asked the MTA to halt half of R subway service at Court Street, with Queens-Manhattan service covering the Whitehall and 71st Avenue stations on the other half, in the interest of streamlining the route and avoiding the traffic delays that plague the line, AM New York reports.
Rep. Max Rose and three other local politicians presented a letter to New York City Transit President Andy Byford (the letter incorrectly addresses Byford as the MTA chairman) on February 15 asking the MTA to divide the line, much in the way the authority did when making Sandy-related repairs in 2013.
According to the letter, which can be found here and below, that move “insulated the southern Brooklyn line from traffic delays occurring earlier along the line, improving reliability and commute times for constituents in our district. By bifurcating the [R train], Bay Ridge commuters were no longer being delayed due to a sick passenger up in Queens.”
Full text of the letter from @MaxRose4NY @agounardes @JustinBrannan and @FrontusforNY asking the MTA to make R train service even worse for their constituents. https://t.co/48ACTljXHI pic.twitter.com/kepSYXqSeW
— Second Ave. Sagas (@2AvSagas) February 20, 2019
In addition to Rose, the letter was signed by state lawmakers Andrew Gounardes and Mathylde Frontus, as well as Councilman Justin Brannan. An MTA spokesman said in a statement thanking the officials for showing an interest in commuters’ plight, “We agree that R service needs to improve, and it is something we’re very focused on–there is extensive structural rehabilitation work happening on the R line in Brooklyn right now, and we’re aggressively pursuing initiatives to improve operating procedures such as safely increasing speed limits. Regardless, we know more needs to be done.”
[Via AMNY]
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