Oct 9, 2009 8:41 am US/Eastern
Straphangers Brace For Weekend Subway Headache
18 Of 20 Weekend Lines To Be Disrupted By MTA Repair Blitz
By KATHRYN BROWN, CBS 2 HD News
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
It could be a nightmare ride for commuters. The subway system will be cast in chaos this weekend as the MTA does repairs on nearly every line.
Almost every subway line will see major disruptions this weekend, and straphangers are bracing for a headache.
"It's a nightmare," Chelsea resident Jeremy Berman said.
18 out of 20 subway lines that run on weekends will be disrupted as the MTA launches a massive repair project.
"I think it's terrible," Upper West Side resident Elissa Kempin said. "This weekend, I need to be different places around the city, and I'm going to have to walk more, and I'm going to have to pay more money for cabs."
"It usually takes me 30 minutes to get here, and now it's going to take me like an hour and a half," Brooklyn resident Jenny Pikman said.
Some commuters will be shuffled onto free shuttle buses, while others will be forced to use alternate routes. The rest will simply have to find another way to get around the city.
Free shuttle-bus service will be offered at various points for the 5, A, F, G, L and E lines.
The 1, 2, 7, B, N, J and R lines will skip a portion of stops, and the 4, 6 and Q lines will run express at times, missing several stations.
Also, the D line will run on the N tracks during midday hours Friday, missing 12 Brooklyn stops.
The E train will skip stops between 34th Street and the World Trade Center over the weekend, and free shuttle buses will be provided for riders on the F and G lines, which will run express near Prospect Park.
Also, L trains will not be making stops between Myrtle-Wyckoff Avenues and Lorimer Street over the weekend.
The N line will skip several stops Saturday and Sunday: City Hall, and Rector, Whitehall, Court and Lawrence Streets.
Margaret Fequiere doesn't use the subway on the weekends, but says her husband does.
"It's a nightmare for him," Fequiere, a Brooklyn resident, said. "It's supposed to take him an hour to get home, and he comes home like an hour and a half or two hours later."
The MTA says they have to blitz the system with repairs now, because once the weather turns colder, some repairs are impossible to make.
But commuters complain that the service changes aren't always posted.
According to the MTA, only the M train will be unaffected, and the 3 train will actually be increasing some service – rather than terminating at 42nd Street-Times Square during late-night trips, it will run one more stop, to 34th Street.
MTA officials say service advisories will be posted throughout the subway system, and riders can also get access to the latest updates on the MTA Web site, and via e-mail alerts and podcasts.
Service Advisories: Friday | Saturday | Sunday
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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