MTA Holding Emergency Meeting to Discuss New L-Train Plan
The MTA will hold an emergency board meeting on Tuesday to discuss Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s recently-announced plan to avoid a full L-train shutdown.
The L train was supposed to shut down completely for 15-months for Hurricane Sandy-related repairs, but Cuomo earlier this month announced a new L train subway tunnel design that will eliminate a full shutdown. Since Cuomo’s announcement, however, safety and other concerns have been raised about the new plan.
MTA spokesperson Shams Tarek on Sunday said Tuesday’s planned meeting would “allow board members and the public to learn more about and discuss one of New York City’s most critical infrastructure projects.”
As part of the new plan touted by Cuomo, repairs would take place on nights and weekends, with only one tube closed at any given time.
The New York Times on Tuesday, however, reported that the MTA “considered a similar idea nearly five years ago and determined that it raised serious safety concerns, including the potential for the spread of cancer-causing dust that could harm commuters and workers.”
Engineers at the time also said the MTA might not be able to get L trains up and running every Monday morning, according to the Times’ report.
Tarek brushed off those concerns in a statement prior to Tuesday's meeting, saying that the MTA and WSP — the consulting firm working on the L-train project — "would never recommend a project that poses any risk to public safety."
"The new integrated approach to fixing the L train tunnel has been validated by experts and is significantly different from the preliminary and draft concept sited by the Times," he said in a statement. "This draft concept was dismissed because it would have significant impact to the wall of the tunnel by individually bolting cables."
"The new plan would hang the cable in racks — something not previously considered — and would involve approximately 60 percent less bolt penetration," he added. "The new plan also involves significantly less benchwall demolition than anything previously considered.”
Photo Credit: News 4 NY
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