The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has announced that the Clark St. Tube subway tunnel carrying lines 2 and 3 between Manhattan and Brooklyn under the East River will undergo weekend closures in both directions starting in spring 2017 to make Superstorm Sandy-related repairs. This will result in temporary, long-term schedule and route adjustments on weekends on the two lines. The work will be performed over 56 weekends and will not affect regular weekday daytime service.
The 1.2 mile-long Clark St. Tube was one of nine MTA New York City Transit subway tunnels flooded and damaged by the Sandy storm surge in October 2012. The corrosive salt water flooded the tunnel, damaging tracks, signals, pumping equipment, and electrical and switching equipment. Temporary repairs after the storm allowed a safe return to service, but extensive reconstruction is required to ensure that lines 2 and 3 remain safe and viable.
“The Clark St project is the next phase in what is the most extensive reconstruction and fortification effort in the history of the New York City subway system,” said Ronnie Hakim, president of NYC Transit. “This effort is well underway and we continue to face the challenge of performing these vital tasks as quickly and effectively as possible while minimizing the impact on our customers’ commutes. We also aim to minimize the duration of the project and avoid customer confusion by providing the same service every weekend, when possible, throughout the entire project.”
During the weekend work, line 2 and 3 trains will terminate at alternate locations in Lower Manhattan. As a result of these service reroutes, there will be no 2 or 3 subway service available at the Park Place, Fulton St., Wall St., Clark St., Borough Hall, and Hoyt St. stations in Manhattan and Brooklyn on weekends. However, service on other lines will be available at stations that are a short walk from the affected stations. The service changes also will operate overnight from Sunday night until 5 a.m. on Monday mornings.
The changes will affect approximately 205,000 riders on the average weekend, and average travel time will increase by about 4.5 minutes.
Customers may visit www.mta.info and check out “The Weekender” tab located within the Service Status Menu, which makes it easy for subway customers to visualize exactly how weekend work will affect subway service.
The Clark St. Tube project is the seventh major tunnel restoration in the aftermath of Sandy. Repairs have been completed on the Montague, Greenpoint, and the Steinway Tubes, and work is ongoing in the Cranberry, Joralemon, and 53 St. Tubes.