No Ride To Manhattan For 11 Weekends
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will cut 7 train service between Queens and Manhattan for 11 weekends and close the above-ground portion of the Court Square station until April as part of the agency’s ongoing project to upgrade the train line.
There will be no 7 line service between Queensboro Plaza and Times Square-42nd Street on the following weekends:
– Jan. 21-23 and Jan. 28-30;
– Feb. 4-6, Feb. 11-13, Feb. 18-21 and Feb. 25-27;
– Mar. 3-5, Mar. 10-12, Mar. 17- 19, Mar. 24-26 and Mar. 31-Apr. 2.
As has been done in the past, a special fare-free shuttle bus service will operate between the Vernon Avenue
Jackson Avenue and Queensboro Plaza stations while the service diversion is in effect.
Manhattan-bound straphangers boarding the 7 line east of Queensboro Plaza must transfer to the N/Q trains to cross the East River when the service diversion is in effect. Service on those train lines will be increased during these weekends.
Additionally, weekend E train line service will be available at Court Square. There will be a free shuttle bus connecting the G at Court Square to the 21st Street-Queensbridge F station if the E train is rerouted to that stop.
The services changes are necessary for the MTA to install a Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) system, much like the one on the L train line. According to the agency, the system, scheduled to be completed in late 2016, will improve reliability, enhance safety and reduce maintenance requirements while increasing line capacity and operational flexibility.
The agency claims that the narrow width of the tunnel connecting Queens and Manhattan is too narrow to perform the work without closing the tunnel to train traffic.
While installing the CBTC system, the agency will also be replacing track, upgrading emergency alarms and phones, and making repairs to the Hunterspoint Avenue and Vernon Avenue-Jackson Avenue stations.
Court Square closed until April
Additionally, a rehabilitation project at the Court Square Station in Long Island City-including the replacement of stations platforms and windscreens, the installation of handicapped accessible boarding areas, tactile warning strips and signage- will necessitate the closure of the station’s aboveground portion from Jan. 21 to Apr. 2.
This $7.2 million project, combined with the three elevators already at Court Square, will make the station accessible to the disabled at the time of its scheduled completion in .
Residents may still reach the Court Square area by using the E, G or M subway lines or the Q39, Q67, Q69 or B62 bus lines during the closure.
Riders who now transfer between the 7 and G lines at Court Square will be able to make a special free walking transfer with their MetroCards between the 7 line’s Hunters Point Avenue station and the G line’s 21st Street-Van Alst station.
The free transfer between the E, G and M lines at Court Square is not affected by the project.
Customers will be notified of these temporary service changes by notices posted in subway stations. Brochures explaining the work and the alternate services available will also be disseminated.
“We are taking the opportunity to do a lot of work during this period and while we regret the inconvenience to our customers, this is work that must be done in order to improve the performance of this line,” said NYC Transit President Thomas F. Prendergast in a statement. “We have already accomplished a lot here and we have seen an improvement in reliability. With the work we are doing now, we are continuing that progress.”
It was noted that other 7 line service diversions facilitating CBTC installation, additional Steinway Tube maintenance work and other work along the line are scheduled to take place in the fall.
