The MTA might totally shut down L-train service between Manhattan and Brooklyn for more than a year — creating a nightmare for hundreds of thousands of straphangers on the already cramped route.
The drastic measure on hipster heaven Williamsburg’s transit lifeline would be the quickest and cheapest way to repair damage to the 80-year-old Canarsie Tube under the East River caused by Hurricane Sandy, said MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg.
The step would be similar to when the MTA shut down R-train service through the Montague tunnel between Manhattan and Brooklyn for 14 months from August 2013 to September 2014 to repair Sandy damage to that aging tunnel.
“We could do what we did with Montague, where we shut the train down for more than a year,” said Lisberg. “We do all the necessary work around the clock, doing it as fast as humanly possible and not forcing people to suffer through reduced service.”
But daily ridership through the Canarsie tunnel is 225,000, far more than the 65,000 daily passengers who take the R train through the Montague tunnel.
The Bedford Avenue station in Williamsburg is often packed with so many straphangers during rush hours and late nights that they barely fit on the platform.
And while there were other subway options within walking distance of most R stations in Brooklyn and Manhattan, it would be a trek for riders to get to other trains from many spots along the L line.
Riders said the shutdown would be devastating.
“Hearing this news just ruined my whole day, maybe even the next few years of my life,” said Kelly Pittman, 24, who lives in Bushwick and works retail in Union Square.
Her alternative would be shlepping to the M train and then transferring to the packed 6 line.
“Just thinking about it stresses me out,” she said. “I think it’s a big mistake.”
During Hurricane Sandy, the Canarsie Tube took on 7 million gallons of saltwater and it was closed for 11 days as the MTA pumped the water out.
Totally shutting down the tunnel for a long stretch is just one possible plan. The MTA might also decide to close one of the two tracks under the East River, meaning trains would have to alternate going back and forth. That plan would likely mean more than two years of delays, said sources.
The MTA announced last week that it plans to start closing down stations and tunnels completely until it finishes repairs instead of just closing them on nights and weekends.