Rockaway residents are urged to plan ahead as the A train line closure begins this Friday, impacting commutes across the area.
The A train will be temporarily shut down beginning Jan 17 and running through May 19. This will affect nearly 9,000 daily riders living on the Rockaway Peninsula.
For the next 17 weeks, trains on the A-line will be suspended between Howard Beach-JFK Airport and Far Rockaway-Mott Ave. or Rockaway Park-Beach 116th St. Additionally, The Rockaway Park Shuttle will not run to or from Broad Channel.
The MTA enacted the suspension for the Rockaway Resiliency Project, which will repair the A-line over a 17-week period. The agency said the line suffered extensive damage after Superstorm Sandy. Although emergency repairs restored service seven months after the storm, MTA officials say Hammels Wye Viaduct and South Channel Bridge, which carry trains across Broad Channel, need extensive rehabilitation and repair work to protect the A-line from further extreme weather events.
In preparation for the closures, several elected officials have spent months working with the MTA to secure alternative transportation options for Rockaway Peninsula residents.
Assembly Member Stacey Pheffer Amato, who represents the district, emphasized her commitment to ensuring no one is left without access to transportation. “I was not going to allow anyone to be completely cut off and have no access to public transportation. I appreciate that the MTA worked with our community to provide acceptable alternatives and more options to follow as we go through this process,” she said.
The transportation alternatives are as follows:
Between Friday night on Jan. 17 and Monday morning on Jan. 20, the following alternative services are available:
For service to/from affected stations, there will be free transfer/shuttle buses which will run on three routes:
○ Nonstop between Howard Beach and Far Rockaway-Mott Ave.
○ Between Howard Beach and Far Rockaway-Mott Ave., making all stops: Broad Channel, Beach 90 St., Beach 67 St., Beach 60 St., Beach 44 St., Beach 36 St., and Beach 25 St.
○ Between Howard Beach and Rockaway Park- Beach 116 St., stopping at Broad Channel, Beach 98 St., and Beach 105 St.
Starting Jan. 20, the following alternatives will be available while the A train is shut down:
Free shuttle bus service along 2 routes:
○ The Q97 bus, which will run between Howard Beach and Far Rockaway
○ The Q109 bus which will run from Howard Beach to Beach 67th St. via Broad Channel and Beach 90th Street
Additionally, tickets from Far Rockaway LIRR station to Gand Central/ Penn Station in Manhattan and Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn will be discounted to $2.75.
There will also be free subway shuttle service across the Rockaway Peninsula in both directions from Beach 116th St. Station to Mott Ave. during the duration of the construction.
Furthermore, the MTA announced on Dec 11 that select express buses will extend their stops and add peak bus trips to and from Manhattan during the outage.
The participating express bus lines include the QM15, QM16, and QM17 buses. This will include 36 additional bus trips during the weekday and 20 additional trips on Saturdays. In addition, the QM15 express buses will make additional stops in both directions throughout Howard Beach and into Arverne, following the same route as the QM17.
The selected extended QM15 trips will run as follows for the service outage duration.
36 Extended Weekday Trips:
Manhattan-bound: 6:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. (except between 7:25 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. During this time, the MTA advises commuters to take a free shuttle bus to Howard Beach or the QM16 or QM17)
Queens-bound: 10 a.m. – 11:15 p.m.
20 Extended Saturday Trips:
Manhattan-bound: 6:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Queens-bound: 12:40 p.m. – 7:40 p.m.
QM15 Express Buses will make the following additional QM17 stops to/from Arverne:
Beach Channel Dr & Beach 54 St
Beach Channel Dr & Beach 67 St
Rockaway Beach Blvd & Beach 77 St
Rockaway Beach Blvd & Beach 92 St
Cross Bay Blvd & 16 Rd
Cross Bay Blvd & Noel Rd
Cross Bay Blvd & 163 Av
Cross Bay Blvd & 158 Av
Other local elected officials are also finding travel solutions for Rockaway residents.
Council Member Joann Ariola, who presides over parts of the Rockaway Peninsula, has worked with local organizations to help Rockaway residents with their travel woes during the upcoming service disruption.
Ariola announced last month that she’s partnered with NYC Ferry to get a service commitment for larger ferries during the A train shutdown. During the first week of the train outage, the NYC Ferry, which runs out of Manhattan, will run larger 350-person boats in anticipation of increased demand. At the end of the first week’s program, officials will assess whether the larger boats are still needed.
Furthermore, Ariola told QNS last month that she worked with Resorts World Casino to allow commuters to park in their casino parking lot to access the A train at the Aqueduct race track. The parking allowance will be in effect for the duration of the A train track work, beginning Jan. 17, but parking is not permitted in the race track parking lot.
