During a meeting about how the the M and L train closures are going to pan out for residents affected by both in Bushwick, representatives from the MTA announced one unexpected way in which service for commuters will change: the J and the Z will no longer run express during peak times.
DNAinfo reports that at rush hour, the J and the Z skip Lorimer, Hewes, and Flushing in addition to a couple of other stops depending on the time of day between Myrtle and Broadway Junction. But when the M isn’t running as frequently during construction (about 25% less frequently), the J and the Z trains will be expected to pick up the local service slack.
Those commuters who rely on a quick trip into Manhattan on a morning J train might find themselves adding a few extra minutes to their commute every day as disgruntled M train riders pack themselves like sardines into already crowded train cars.
This service change is expected to begin in the summer of 2017 and last for ten months while the metal bridge between the Fresh Pond Road and Middle Village stops and the curve connecting the M train to the J/Z train are repaired in advance of the impending 2019 L train nightmare.
While the meeting did yield some new information regarding the multiple transit projects affecting Bushwick residents, the MTA has not yet made an announcement about whether the L train repairs will take 18 months or three years.