MTA Scraps 14th Street Busway For L Train Repairs: Reports

EAST VILLAGE, NY — The so-called 14th Street "busway" could be scrapped during the L train tunnel repairs, according to reports.

The mitigation measure planned to be put in place during the 15 month closure of the L train between Bedford and Eighth Aves. would have put a car-free busway along much of 14th St.

The busway would have allowed for more bus routes along the thoroughfare to provide additional crosstown transportation for hundreds of thousands of L train riders.

But with a formal shutdown now canceled, the busway could be no more.

"We don't anticipate closing 14th Street to vehicles," the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's managing director, Ronnie Hakim, told reporters in a phone briefing Wednesday, according to The New York Post.

The MTA and Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to questions.

HOV-3 restrictions along the Williamsburg Bridge will also likely be scrapped, Hakim said, according to AM New York. AM New York reported the Canarsie tunnel repairs will begin during the last weekend in April, as previously planned.

Mayor Bill de Blasio's spokesperson Eric Phillips countered the MTA's announcements, noting de Blasio has not made a final decision on the portions of the plan the city could still choose to implement.

"The Mayor hasn’t decided what to do with the city-controlled mitigation plans on the bridge and on 14th Street," Phillips said. "As we learn more and more detail every day from the MTA about its closure of the L train, we’ll continue to design efforts and review existing plans to help affected riders."

But Transportation Alternatives had choice words for the de Blasio administration, which could implement street improvements regardless of how the MTA decides to repair the L train.

"Mayor de Blasio's new plan on 14th Street could be summarized in one sentence: 'City to bus riders: drop dead,'" said Tom DeVito, senior director of advocacy at Transportation Alternatives.
DeVito added the MTA is right to increase M14 service to every three minutes, but with cars clogging up the crosstown street, the buses will "plod along at walking speed."

"By changing course now, the mayor is making his priorities clear: he cares about maintaining a status quo bent on preserving convenient access for cars, even at the expense of everyday New Yorkers who could suffer for years from the effects of the newly announced L train 'slowdown,'" DeVito said.

Weeknights and weekends are expected to have 20-minute headways between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m, but service reductions could start as early in the evening as 8 p.m., AM New York reported.

M14 service is expected to be increased, according to AM New York, though it is unclear by how much and when the SBS service that had been planned will begin.

The news comes about a week after transit advocates rallied for the city to keep the transit and bike improvements previously planned.

"The 14th St. Busway, a feature of the previous plan, arrived at through years of community planning sessions, has the potential to speed up bus service in our community and help get people to work, school, and appointments on time," Assemblymember Harvey Epstein tweeted at a rally last week.

State Sen. Brad Hoylman said in a statement: "I'm extremely concerned."

"Today the MTA confirmed our fears that the new L Train plan will bring little to no alternate service enhancements, the loss of the 14th street (sic) busway, possible exit only stations at 1st and 3rd Avenues, delayed subways, and historic overcrowding," Hoylman said. "So far, this is not a plan that will avert a shutdown. It’s an effort to steamroll a quick fix over the public. The MTA has promised to take community input into account as it moves forward. I'm pleased to see that they are planning to expand M14A service, and I hope to see much more done to help riders. I know they will be hearing from many constituents in my district, who are being left without real options."

Image credit: Ciara McCarthy/Patch Image caption: An entrance to the L train subway at Third Avenue in Manhattan.