By Mark Hallum
MTA leaders held a briefing Thursday to give further details about what LIRR riders can expect as well as the measures the agency has taken with the “summer of hell” fast approaching for scheduled repairs to Penn Station.
Newly appointed MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota and Interim Executive Director Veronique Hakim said the MTA has all the assets it needs to execute the plan released last month and have launched a special information website for interim train and bus schedules.
“We know that this is going to be a tough couple of months, but it is temporary,” Hakim said. “We are going to be monitoring the work that Amtrak is doing and we will be reporting back the progress that’s going on because we want to keep our customers up to date and aware of everything we have to deal with over the summer.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled a plan in mid-June to add extra cars to trains and to modify the peak service schedule going east and westbound to accommodate 9,600 more commuters while providing transportation alternatives such as ferries and buses. Overnight trains will be cut between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. The LIRR will offer free morning transfers to subways and the state agency will offer half-priced tolls for trucks on MTA crossings in and out of Manhattan between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. to alleviate road congestion.
Improvements such as HOV lanes on bridges, tunnels and highways will be expedited for completion July 8, Cuomo said back in June, Lhota confirmed those changes are on pace.
Hakim encouraged people to commute through Hunters Point, where they will have access to the 7 train, and use ferry service to and from Manhattan. The city transit system is prepared to have more trains at transfer points at periods of the day to anticipate this.
Train and bus riders will be able to receive real-time updates on the alternative website, lirrs
“We have all of the assets that we need to have in place for Monday morning,” Lhota said, with hurdles remaining for the MTA involving how to logistically coordinate and communicate between the LIRR, subways and law enforcement. “We’re going through the logistics necessary to makes sure that come Monday morning we know who to talk to and who to call if we have any situation. So it’s more like table top exercising that we’re doing right now in order to be able to move forward.”
Lhota discouraged from driving into Manhattan by warning that the Long Island Expressway does not have the capacity to accommodate so many cars, but reminded riders that there are HOV lanes strictly reserved for buses.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhall
