L train riders will need to prepare themselves for another weekend of service interruptions — this time to accommodate escalator upgrades in Manhattan.
The MTA will nix L train services between East New York's Broadway Junction and Eighth Avenue in Manhattan from Friday, September 13 through Sunday, September 16. Full service will resume 5:00am on Monday.
The escalator upgrades at Union Square station are part of the accessibility improvements the MTA promised during the original L train shutdown plan, officials said.
"While the L Project was initiated because of the damage from Superstorm Sandy, it was designed to address many other critical needs — namely, accessibility," said New York City Transit's Senior Adviser for System-Wide Accessibility Alex Elegudin. "Advancing this work now at these critical stations as we had promised will help to minimize disruptions later while also getting the accessibility and ease-of-access improvements done as quickly as possible, a huge win for our customers."
Subway riders will have to switch to free shuttle buses in Brooklyn this weekend. There will be two options to choose from: one shuttle will run from the Lorimer Street L train stop to the Marcy Avenue and Hewes Street J and M train stops; another shuttle will run from Lorimer Street to Broadway Junction, and also stop at Marcy Avenue. Additionally, the MTA will increase service along the G line, which will run every eight minutes instead of every ten minutes during the day.
Brooklynites are encouraged to use the M train as an alternative to the L. Other travel routes include the A, C, J or Z from Broadway Junction.
And more service interruptions are on the horizon: the L train will stop running in Brooklyn between Lorimer Street and Broadway Junction weeknights from September 23 through 27 and September 30 through October 4, as well as throughout the weekends following those weeknight suspensions.
For more updates on the L project, go here.
