City Councilmember Brad Lander is continuing to work on finding solutions to the problems that commuters in our area will encounter as a result of the scheduled route changes on the F and G trains.
Reminder: This weekend, you'll have to take a shuttle bus between Jay Street and Church Avenue (in both directions). From Monday, January 17th, through sometime in May, northbound F and G trains won't be stopping at Fort Hamilton Parkway and 15th Street-Prospect Park.
Earlier today, Borough President Marty Markowitz, Assemblymember Jim Brennan, and I met with officials from the MTA to urge them to put in place service alternatives during the F/G station closures at 15th Street and Ft Hamilton Parkway.
Unfortunately, we did not (yet) make too much progress … but we are going to keep pushing, and we could use your help.
MTA representatives (including Thomas Pendergast, President of New York City Transit) told us that they believe that "backriding" (i.e. taking the train south) to Church Avenue, and then switching to the northbound trains, will be the fastest option for F/G riders.
That may be true for some … but I strongly believe that extending service on existing bus routes would be quicker for many others who will be extremely inconvenienced by the station closures, and is the right thing for the MTA to do.
One great suggestion I have heard from many of you is to extend the B68 bus (which runs along Prospect Park Southwest and Coney Island Avenue) past its usual terminus at Bartel Pritchard Square (at the 15th St/PPSW Station), to 9th St and 8th Ave, where riders could pick up the F train. This would make for an easier commute into Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn for many in Windsor Terrace and Kensington. MTA officials agreed this morning to take another look at this idea.
I will continue to advocate and push for the B68 extension and other service alternatives in the coming days. We plan to do a petition (both online & hard copy), and to be out on Tuesday morning at the 15th Street and Ft. Hamilton stations gathering signatures. If you can join us to help petition, please email Jessica Turner at jturner [at] council.nyc.gov.
The MTA did agree to a few small modifications, including:
- Adding a stop on the B35 express (limited) bus at Church Avenue and Ocean Parkway, to make it a little easier to get to the Church Avenue station from the east
- Asking the NYC DOT to add bike parking at the Church Ave and 7th Ave stops
- Distributing more information on bus routes and schedules that connect these lines.
By themselves, though, these are not enough.
I know that this is an extremely frustrating situation for transit riders in Windsor Terrace and Kensington. The station closures are part of a project necessary to rehabilitate the aging F/G line. But the MTA can do better to provide some alternatives. I will continue to push, and hope you will join me.
Brad
