MTA elevator installation project moves forward

Written by Kyra Senese, Managing Editor
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The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York City Transit (NY Transit) will later this week begin the next phase of a project to bring full accessibility to its Greenpoint Av G Subway station.

The planned work will require constant track and platform access for construction crew members who are set to install three new elevators and other accessibility features this winter.

“Accessibility is one of my top four priorities as part of the Fast Forward Plan to modernize NYC Transit, and I am very pleased to see how quickly the elevator project at Greenpoint Av has advanced in just a few months,” said MTA NY Transit President Andy Byford. “We thank our customers for their patience while we install these elevators; the final result will benefit everyone – from people who use wheelchairs to parents with strollers to anyone carrying anything heavy.”

The Greenpoint Av elevator project will bring the installation of three new elevators and is intended to update station infrastructure such as stairs, handrails, turnstiles, powered gates and braille signage.

An elevator will link the southern end of the station mezzanine to the sidewalk on the east side of Manhattan Avenue between Greenpoint Avenue and Kent Street. Two other elevators will provide access to the northbound and southbound platforms, respectively, from the station mezzanine. In addition, the station agent booth will be modified to a wheelchair user-friendly height and new sidewalk pedestrian ramps will be installed.

Work will take place beginning Nov. 30 through Dec. 31, during which time only northbound G Subway trains will stop at Greenpoint Av.

Additionally, the Greenpoint Av station will be closed in both directions on weeknights between 9:45 p.m. and 5 a.m. and on weekends during all hours from Dec. 3 to Dec. 24. Alternate service during the closures will be provided, MTA said.

A similar one-direction station bypass for northbound G Subway service at Greenpoint Av will be scheduled in March 2019.

Construction for the MTA’s project began in September and is expected to take a total of 28 months to complete. More than 9,400 weekday riders rely on the station, which MTA said remains open to service during the work despite short-term outages.

News of the elevator plan comes just five months after the subway agency hired its first systemwide accessibility chief.

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