Greenpoint Elevator Project Moves Forward

Earlier today, MTA NYC announced that its project to install an elevator at the Greenpoint Avenue station will be moving forward. Here is more via the press release I received:

MTA New York City Transit announced today that the next phase of a project to bring full accessibility to the Greenpoint Av  station will require ‘round-the-clock’ track and platform access to construction crews who will be installing three new elevators and other accessibility features this winter.

“Accessibility is one of my top four priorities as part of the Fast Forward Plan to modernize NYC Transit, and I am very pleased to see how quickly the elevator project at Greenpoint Av has advanced in just a few months,” said MTA New York City Transit President Andy Byford. “We thank our customers for their patience while we install these elevators; the final result will benefit everyone – from people who use wheelchairs to parents with strollers to anyone carrying anything heavy.”

The Greenpoint Av elevator project will install three new elevators and update station infrastructure such as stairs, handrails, turnstiles, powered gates and braille signage. An elevator will link the southern end of the station mezzanine to the sidewalk on the east side of Manhattan Avenue between Greenpoint Avenue and Kent Street. Two other elevators will provide access to the northbound and southbound platforms, respectively, from the station mezzanine. In addition, the station agent booth will be modified to a wheelchair user-friendly height and new sidewalk pedestrian ramps will be installed.

From 9:45 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 30 to 5 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 31, only northbound  trains will stop at Greenpoint Av. Additionally, the Greenpoint Av station will be closed in both directions on weeknights between 9:45 p.m. and 5 a.m. and on weekends at all hours from Monday, Dec. 3 to Monday, Dec. 24. Alternate service during these closures is specified below.

A similar one-direction station bypass for northbound  service at Greenpoint Av will be scheduled in March 2019. Specific dates, including any weeknight and weekend work, will be announced closer to the start of that scheduled work.

Construction began in September and is expected to take a total of 28 months. More than 9,400 weekday customers use the station, which remains open to service during the work, though short-term outages such as these limited station bypasses have been scheduled to accommodate work requiring platform or track access. Announcements, signage and outreach to the affected communities and local elected officials detailing any additional service changes related to the construction will be posted and disseminated ahead of each service change as they are scheduled.

In May 2018, President Byford unveiled the Fast Forward Plan to establish a roadmap for the modernization of the subway, bus and paratransit networks. It proposes to add, in the span of five years, enough new elevators to ensure that all subway riders will not be more than two stops away from an accessible station.  The plan proposes making more than 180 subway stations ADA accessible over the course of 10 years. In June, President Byford appointed the agency’s first systemwide accessibility adviser, Alex Elegudin, to implement accessibility initiatives outlined in the plan.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has invested nearly $5 billion to make subway stations accessible, including $1.4 billion in the 2015-19 MTA capital program for adding accessibility at 20 stations. The 2015-19 capital program includes $479 million to replace 42 existing elevators and 27 escalators. Future capital programs will include funding for additional stations.

Some planned service changes to accommodate the Greenpoint Av elevator project will also accommodate track maintenance work on the  line to ensure reliability during the  tunnel reconstruction project that will begin in April 2019. The service changes listed below begin at 9:45 p.m. each night and ends at 5 a.m. the next morning, except weekend work, which begins at 9:45 p.m. Fridays to 5 a.m. Mondays:

November 30 – December 3

  •  operates between Nassau Av and Church Av
  • Free shuttle buses operate between Court Sq and Nassau Av

December 3-7

  •  operates between Church Av and Bedford-Nostrand Avs
  • Free shuttle buses operate between 21 St-Queensbridge and Bedford-Nostrand Avs

December 7-10

  •  operates between Nassau Av and Church Av
  • Free shuttle buses operate between Nassau Av and Court Sq

December 10-14

  •  operates between Church Av and Bedford-Nostrand Avs
  • Free shuttle buses operate between 21 St-Queensbridge and Bedford-Nostrand Avs

December 14-17

  •  operates between Church Av and Bedford-Nostrand Avs
  • Free shuttle buses operate between Court Sq and Bedford-Nostrand Avs

December 17-21

  •  operates between Church Av and Bedford-Nostrand Avs
  • Free shuttle buses operate between 21 St-Queensbridge and Bedford-Nostrand Avs

December 21-24

  •  operates between Church Av and Bedford-Nostrand Avs
  • Free shuttle buses operate between Court Sq and Bedford-Nostrand Avs

January 4-7

  •  operates between Court Sq and Bedford-Nostrand Avs

Free shuttle buses operate between Bedford-Nostrand Avs and Jay St

xoxo Transit Blogger

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