The MTA will shut down A train service in the Rockaways for five months starting in January, disrupting the commutes of more than 9,000 daily riders.
Beginning on Jan. 17, the A train won’t run between Howard Beach-JFK Airport and the last stops of the line, either Rockaway Park-Beach 116 St. or Far Rockaway-Mott Ave. The Rockaway Park Shuttle trains will also stop running to and from Broad Channel.
The MTA says the lengthy suspension of service is necessary to fortify infrastructure against extreme weather. The viaducts and bridge that carry trains across Broad Channel need “major upgrades to help protect the line from future storms,” the MTA wrote in an announcement.
The agency noted that much of the work is in response to extensive damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. It took seven months to restore service to Rockaway after the storm in Oct. 2012.
Free bus shuttle service will be available along the affected stops. The announcement gave no indication that NYC Ferry service from Rockaway would be expanded while the upgrades are underway.
Far Rockaway resident Quazel Trower said the shutdown will upend his life.
“There’s only one train that goes to Far Rockaway. It’s not like two trains, three trains. It’s literally one,” Trower, 27, said. “Taking the shuttle bus always makes your commute longer than it needs to be.”
Trower said his typical commute into Manhattan already takes more than an hour.
In a statement, MTA Deputy Chief Development Officer, Mark Roche, said that the plan was consistent with what has been done in the past for the L train Canarsie Tunnel project and G line modernization work.
"This next phase of the A train resiliency work has undergone internal and external expert review to weigh alternate delivery and construction methods,"he said. "It was determined that the plan presented is the best option for getting this work done as quickly as possible, with the least impact to commuters.”
So if congestion pricing started, this would have happened anyway. Nice of the MTA to drop this right when the weather got chilly, it's really no different how they obfuscate reasons during train delay announcements.
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