MTA Hosts Town Hall on 17-Week A Train Shutdown

By Katie McFadden

For 17 weeks, starting January 17 through mid-May, the A train will be shut down between Howard Beach and the Rockaway peninsula for a major renovation project. On Thursday, November 7, the community was welcome to a town hall with the MTA to hear about the project, the shutdown, the travel alternatives, and to ask questions.

Dozens of residents filled the gym of the Rockaway YMCA to hear about the plan. The event was hosted by Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers, in partnership with Assemblymembers Khaleel Anderson and Stacey Pheffer Amato, Councilwoman Joann Ariola and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

Brooks-Powers began the town hall thanking the MTA for some of their contingency plans, including providing free Rockaway shuttle service from Beach 116th Street to Mott Avenue during the 17-week shutdown and providing a discounted Long Island Rail Road trip from the Far Rockaway station for just $2.75, but she mentioned that she believed this ride should be free during the shutdown. She also called on the MTA to “expand the QM17 and QM16 express service hours to ensure the community residents can utilize public transit with no direct A train service.”

Deirdre Harvey, the Project CEO for MTA Construction & Development, said she was part of the project to bring the A train back on line after Hurricane Sandy flooded and damaged the tracks in 2012, shutting down the train for seven months. She then explained the scope of this latest $393 million project that will shut down the train for 17 weeks for bridge and viaduct work. The Rockaway Resiliency and Rehabilitation Project started in December 2022 when Schiavone Construction was awarded the contract. Since then, a lot of design work and some construction work has been taking place in preparation for this project, which will ultimately be complete at the end of 2026.

Two huge portions will be taking place during this shutdown. The Hammels Wye Viaduct is being completely reconstructed. This elevated structure is the point on the peninsula where the trains split east and west and is utilized by the A train and shuttle. It needs to be completely removed and replaced, requiring the long-term shutdown to do this work. The MTA has tried doing patch work on this piece, but weather and wind damage has resulted in the need for complete replacement. While this is going on, simultaneously, the MTA will also rehabilitate the South Channel Bridge, the train bridge that opens for maritime traffic. As this structure is old, the contractor will be gutting the old electrical and mechanical components and retrofitting it with custom made machinery that will be added, to try to prevent the bridge from getting stuck when it opens. “We bundled this project so we wouldn’t inconvenience you twice,” Harvey said.

Some smaller aspects of the project include concrete repairs on the Rockaway Viaduct, the elevated structure from Beach 116th to Mott Avenue. Some of this work has already been taking place during weekends over the past few weeks, and this aspect of the work will continue until the end of 2026. Another aspect is to fortify the embankments or areas where water meets the land, to prevent erosion underneath those tracks. More stones will be added around these areas to try to reduce erosion. The last part will be construction of the Beach 105th Street signal tower. The MTA will be adding a signal tower and crossover at those tracks, so in the event of a storm surge, service can still be provided from Beach 105th, if it can’t be provided in the other directions. The MTA will also take this time to do some touch-ups at stations along the peninsula, with deep cleanings, new paint and other minor renovations.

Since the project requires removing the Hammels Wye Viaduct and replacing parts of the bridge, it calls for the long-haul work over 17 weeks. However, the MTA has allocated some time for weather delays, so if weather isn’t disruptive, the project could end sooner than 17 weeks. The contractor will also face financial penalties if they don’t finish on time. There will also be an overnight weekend shutdown starting January 17 through January 20, before the full shutdown starting January 20 for the 17 weeks, and another overnight weekend shutdown from May 16 through May 19, with the A stopping at Howard Beach and shuttle buses being used in its place. The MTA also has a local hiring aspect to the project so locals can get jobs.

Following Harvey was Hugo Zamora, a general superintendent for the MTA and project leader. He and his team will be along the route during the shutdown to help riders get where they need to go, so he was on hand to give riders a preview of some of the options they’ll have during the shutdown. Over the summer, he played a similar role on a large project on the G line that required a nine-week shutdown.

Zamora told the crowd that in addition to having staff at the shuttle train and shuttle bus areas, there will be significant signage in these areas, directing riders to where they need to go. While the work is being done, A train service will terminate at Howard Beach instead of continuing to the peninsula. In place of the A train, there will be two free shuttle buses; the Q97 from Howard Beach directly to Far Rockaway via the Nassau Expressway, operating every six to eight minutes during peak times and every 10 minutes mid-day and on weekends; and the Q109 shuttle bus from Howard Beach to Beach 67th Street, making stops in Broad Channel and Beach 90th Street, and operating every four to five minutes during peak time, every eight to nine minutes mid-day and every 10 minutes on weekends. These shuttle buses will be outside of the Howard Beach A train station. Additionally, the free, 24/7 Shuttle train will service all stations along the peninsula from Beach 116th Street to Far Rockaway, so riders can connect and get off at their local stops and make the shuttle bus connections at Beach 90th, Beach 67th and Far Rockaway. The Shuttle train will operate every 15 minutes.

In addition to those alternatives, existing options will also be available to get people where they need to go including the Q52 and Q53 SBS buses, which connect to the A train at Rockaway Boulevard in Queens, the Q35 which connects to the 2 and 5 trains at Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, the QM16/QM17 express buses to Manhattan, the LIRR Far Rockaway train at the discounted rate of $2.75 one-way with tickets purchased at the Far Rockaway station (at Nameoke and Redfern Avenues), and finally, the MTA is working with the Economic Development Corporation to monitor service on the NYC Ferry and its shuttles, adjusting service as needed.

After the rundown of the project, the town hall was open to remarks from Anderson, Ariola and Williams, followed by questions submitted on index cards through audience members. Many asked if express bus fares could be reduced, but the MTA said this was a premium service. There were also many questions about adding additional bus options, but the MTA said they only have so many available buses to work with. The full town hall is available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/Q4EJ7yY2Tww

Before and during the shutdown, there will be several ways to ask questions, including the 24/7 phone hotline: 516-331-4009, the project email: RockawayResiliency@mtacd.org and regular updates will be available on the project website: Mta.info/rockawayupdates