Bay Ridge

N train station repairs begin Jan 18.

Manhattan-bound riders face detours

January 4, 2016 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
The platform for Manhattan-bound N trains at the Fort Hamilton Parkway station will be off-limits starting Jan. 18. Eagle file photo by Paula Katinas
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An ambitious project to renovate several stations along the N subway line in Southwest Brooklyn will enter a crucial new phase on Jan. 18, as repairs begin in earnest.

The project will mean more than a year of detours for thousands of subway riders.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will be closing the platforms for northbound N trains at the following stations: Fort Hamilton Parkway, New Utrecht Avenue, 18th Avenue, 20th Avenue, Kings Highway, Avenue U and 86th Street.

N train will make express stops only at Eighth Avenue and at 86th Street, bypassing all of the stations in between. Temporary platforms are being constructed at the Bay Parkway and Eighth Avenue stations.

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Passengers who normally board the N train at the Fort Hamilton Parkway, New Utrecht Avenue, 18th Avenue or 20th Avenue stations to go to work in Manhattan will have to get on a Coney Island-bound train, get off at Bay Parkway and then board a Manhattan-bound train to complete their journey.

Riders who board the N train at the Kings Highway, Avenue U and 86th Street stations will have to take a southbound train to the Stillwell Avenue station in Coney Island, where they can find a northbound express N.

The detours for northbound commuters are expected to last for 14 months, MTA officials recently told Community Board 10.

“Phase I of the project will see major construction work on the Manhattan-bound station platforms, platform walls, stairs, etc. In order to safely and efficiently perform this work track access is necessary,” Community Board 10 District Manager Josephine Beckmann wrote in an advisory to board members.

Beckmann said the MTA plans to distribute customer service notices and information sheets, known as “take-ones,” at stations and will post advisories on trains and in stations weeks before the Jan. 18 start date. The MTA will also get the word out through social media platforms.

Once work on the Manhattan-bound train platforms is complete, the project will reverse course and work will begin on the Coney Island-bound platforms.

The entire project is expected to last for 48 months.

The project will give the stations a much-needed facelift, according to MTA officials.

The work will include the installation of new lighting, new platforms; enhanced safety features; upgraded communication systems; repair or replacement of stairs; new mezzanine floors, doors and windows; rehabilitation of interior and exterior walls; and repairs to platform canopies.

In addition, all of the stations will get a fresh coat of paint.

“This project will bring all of these stations to a state of good repair,” an MTA spokesperson wrote in an email to the Brooklyn Eagle.

The New Utrecht Avenue station, where riders connect to the D train, will be getting an elevator. The MTA will also be installing wheelchair ramps at the Eighth Avenue station. The elevator and the ramps will bring both of these stations into full compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The stations to be renovated are Eighth Avenue, Fort Hamilton Parkway, New Utrecht Avenue, 18th Avenue, 20th Avenue, Bay Parkway, Kings Highway, Avenue U and 86th Street.

Graffiti vandals aren’t likely to be happy with the project. Board 10 officials said they have been told by the MTA that the parapet walls at the stations will be painted with a special graffiti-resistant paint.

Two of the stations, New Utrecht Avenue and Avenue U, are listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, according to Board 10 officials, who said the MTA promised to pay special attention to them. 

 


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