Thousands of Queens straphangers are about to go straight from “summer hell” to a winter nightmare. Another major subway service is also about to be frozen for several months for repairs.
The A Line, the only train service to the area, and shuttle service to the Rockaways. Shortened from January 17th to May 19th The MTA announced plans last week to repair damage from Hurricane Sandy, leaving frustrated peninsula public transit users waiting in freezing cold for shuttle buses and ferries. It's increasing.
“Why do we make it? [straphangers] Do you wait outside during the winter? '' said a local resident who was walking along the Rockaway Beach boardwalk over the weekend.
The woman, who declined to give her name, told the Post that her job requires her to travel to Manhattan regularly.
“It's cold, it's raining. It's beautiful now, but you don't know what's going to happen in January,” she said. “A lot of people here work in Manhattan or elsewhere. We just know they don't like it.”
An employee at Baya Bar smoothie shop in Rockaway Park called the impending service cuts “the worst thing that could happen.”
“This is the only train we have here,” she said.
During the closure, no A trains will operate between Howard Beach-JFK Airport and the end of the line (Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue or Rockaway Park-Beach 116 Street), the MTA said in a statement.
At least 9,000 passengers per day will be affected.
The extended closure allows for “extensive renovations” to protect the viaducts and bridges that carry trains across Broad Channel from future storms, such as Hurricane Sandy, which caused a seven-month service disruption in the area in 2012. Effective for completion.
The Rockaway Park shuttle train will also no longer operate to and from Broad Channel, effectively cutting off all train service to the peninsula.
Ferries and buses, including free bus shuttle service to Howard Beach-JFK Airport, remain available, but some residents still expect their commutes to be longer and more stressful.
Peter Campbell, 46, a local state employee who commutes to Manhattan, said, “If I take the shuttle bus, I have to wake up at 6 a.m.,'' adding that the trip can take up to 45 minutes longer, given the expected traffic jams. I am estimating. .
“It's going to affect every child in the school,” Campbell said. “[A closure] Summer would have been a fairer time.
“But still, there are probably ways that it didn't result in a complete shutdown, like when we worked on the L train,” he said.
Patricia, a Rockaway Park resident who works in finance at a literary agency in Manhattan, said she expects the service cuts will add up to 40 minutes to her commute, which used to take more than an hour. spoke.
“I know about the G train.” [shutdown] It was bad for people, but they should have taken Uber. [Brooklyn’s] Williamsburg, please don't be insensitive,'' she said, referring to the six-week elimination of subway lines between the Brooklyn and Queens crosstowns that began in June and were notorious for creating a “summer of hell” for commuters. .
“a [shutdown] A lot of people are cut off here,” Patricia said.
Some Rockaway Park residents told the Post that planned closures are common in the South Queens neighborhood, where sporadic subway closures are a frequent headache.
Others said the upcoming closure would not affect them because they, like many other local residents, own cars.
But Christine, a Rockaway Beach local and subway rider, told the Post that the 2025 suspension means she will have to travel to visit her mother, who already lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, about a two-hour train ride away. said it would have an impact.
“It’s very inconvenient,” she said of the closure. “We always take the short end of the stick.”
Mike Carroll, 44, a Marine Corps veteran, said:
“Do we have to wait years later? That doesn't make sense.”
But the MTA remains adamant that winter closures are the best course of action.
“The next phase of the A Train's resiliency work will involve a review of internal and external experts to consider alternative delivery and construction methods,” said Mark Roche, the MTA's deputy chief development officer for delivery. was carried out,” he said. “The plans presented were determined to be the best option to complete this work as quickly as possible with minimal impact on commuters.”
Mayor Eric Adams also defended the closure at a news conference last week, while calling for a strong alternative system for Rockaways residents.
“The MTA is not closing these stations solely because of cruel or disrespectful behavior,” the mayor said.
“They're calling for we have to close for that period of time. We have to have alternatives…and we have to make sure we have a proper ferry system to move New Yorkers in the Rockaways. “It has to be,” he added. However, it is unclear whether ferry service will be expanded during the closure for A train passengers.
