By Bill Parry
More subway service shutdowns are on the way for Long Island City.
G line service will be suspended for five consecutive weeks beginning Friday night at 10:30 p.m., according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Fix & Fortify Sandy Recovery Work is returning to the Greenpoint Tube that connects Court Square with Nassau Avenue in Brooklyn. The tunnel suffered extensive damage during Sandy when more than 3 million gallons of saltwater flooded the tube at the height of the storm.
Tracks and equipment were totally submerged, and the tunnel’s pump controls, electrical, communications, fan control and signal equipment all incurred serious damage. Power cables immersed in saltwater corroded from the inside, while corrosion on rails and fasteners increased the potential for delay-causing failures.
The controls for ventilation, lighting and communications systems were all destroyed and have yet to be restored to their level of pre-Sandy reliability.
“Our goal is to complete this work as quickly and efficiently as possible while exposing our customers to as little inconvenience as we possibly can by using the more lightly traveled summer weeks to make repairs,” New York City Transit President Carmen Bianco said. “To that end, we are providing an extraordinary amount of information to help our customers navigate around this vital work.”
The MTA will provide free shuttle buses during the duration of the work linking the closed stops.
Previous Fix & Fortify work was performed in the Greenpoint Tube over 12 weekend closures last year. The work included installation of cable, alarms, emergency communication systems, repair of track, structural repairs, repairs to tunnel leaks and the removal of old tunnel lighting.
This time the MTA said workers will take advantage of the 24/7 access to install permanent tunnel lighting, install new signals and fiber-optic cable as well as testing all of the newly installed equipment. Track Capital Construction will take advantage of the extended shutdown to complete all necessary track work.
The project is designed to restore and rebuild damaged infrastructure while reducing the system’s vulnerability in the event of future severe weather. Overall, the MTA has allocated $3.8 billion in funding from the federal Transit Administration for repair, resiliency and disaster relief work.
The MTA added that customers affected by the upcoming work will have access to informational brochures. A robust customer information campaign on the project includes posters on trains and throughout affected stations.
G line service is scheduled to resume at 5 a.m. Sept. 2.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
