MTA’s latest Smith-9th station promise: It will reopen by April

January 8, 2013 Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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The MTA confirmed that it intends to renew service at the long-dormant Smith/9th Street Station by April 2013, according to Carroll Gardens Patch.

The station was closed in June 2011 for the renovation of the Culver Viaduct, which spans the Gowanus Canal and supports the station.

Work has been plagued by numerous delays. “The contractor is behind schedule on this project due to problems with sub-contractors and the challenges associated with the unique design of the station,” the MTA told the Brooklyn Eagle last month. “We are holding the contractor to the terms of the contract.”

MTA said that work on the platform level “is complete with the installation of all new platform surfaces, new platform edge rubbing boards, new lighting and a new public address system.”

When finished, the station will have a new escalator system, new stairways, new lighting, an expanded entrance area, new waterproofing, new track drains and a 14-foot-tall mural, courtesy of the Arts for Transit program.

Built in the 1930s, this sturdy steel and concrete viaduct has been damaged by poor track drainage to the extent that black netting has been installed under it to protect motorists from chunks of falling concrete.

The station also showed other signs of deterioration. Because it is the highest point in the subway system, it is dependent on a system of escalators. But before it was closed by the MTA for repairs in 2011, these escalators were often out of service.