Alternative transit proposals for helping out beleaguered L train riders have been floating around for months before the MTA made its official announcement regarding the 18-month full closure of the Canarsie tubes. ReThink Studios is proposing (unofficially so far) a nearly elegant solution for getting riders across the river into Brooklyn.
The proposal includes only some construction and would require the E train to run along the A line over to Hoyt-Schermerhorn, switch over to the G line and ultimately provide a transfer to the L at Lorimer, creating a somewhat uninterrupted journey.
Jimi Venturi, founder and principal designer, told Curbed, “This isn’t a new idea by any means but it just makes a lot of sense for the L Train, and it’s a relatively minor proposal.”
Let’s put the plan to a mildly unscientific test:
The journey between 8th Avenue and DeKalb takes about 20 minutes on the L line.
If you took the E or A south from 14th Street past the WTC to Hoyt-Schermerhorn, that journey would take 16 minutes. The trip from Hoyt-Schermerhorn to Metropolitan’s transfer point on the existing G track would take another 11 minutes. And the distance between Lorimer and Dekalb is about 10 minutes. That’s a total of 37 minutes, but it doesn’t include what could be a messy transfer at Lorimer.
Furthermore, rush hour travel would require an additional transfer between the E and the A in Manhattan at World Trade Center and the A and the G at Hoyt-Schermerhorn. The A/C line already runs at capacity during peak times and would not be able to accommodate extra E train traffic.
While not perfect, it would alleviate some of the stress placed on the JMZ lines during the construction period, and it could beat walking from the M train in the frigid winter months when all of this begins.
Featured image courtesy of ReThink Studios.