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September 13, 2020
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MTA to Begin Rehabilitation Work on F Line’s Rutgers Tube Between Brooklyn and Manhattan on Monday |
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Rutgers Is Final Tunnel Damaged During Superstorm Sandy to Undergo Wholesale Rehabilitation Work, Which Will Be Quickest of All Tunnel Restorations and Use Innovative Methods
Project Will Draw on Lessons Learned During the
 Project Work to Reduce Impacts to Customers The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today issued a reminder that work to rehabilitate the Rutgers Tube, which carries the
 subway line under the East River, begins Monday, Sept. 14. The announcement follows extensive customer and community outreach in recent weeks. The Tube is the 11th and final MTA tunnel under a major body of water to be rebuilt as a result of damage sustained during Superstorm Sandy. The project will use lessons learned and innovative methods from the Project that will allow the work to be done during overnight hours and on weekends, averting the need to fully close the tube. The start date and other project details have been communicated to customers, elected officials and other community members in recent weeks via a project microsite, station signage, social media and a virtual public town hall meeting held via videoconference last week. Additional outreach will continue throughout the duration of the project.
“The
train project demonstrated that the MTA can deliver major projects much faster and at less cost than anybody expected,” said Janno Lieber, President of MTA Construction & Development. “Now, with the Rutgers ( Train) tube, we’re on a mission to prove that we can make it the norm, as we continue to embrace advanced technologies and private sector development techniques.” “Once complete, we will have rehabilitated every tunnel damaged during Sandy, further fortifying the system against future natural disasters,” said Sarah Feinberg, Interim President of MTA New York City Transit. “We’re working to make sure this work leads to as few disruptions as possible for our customers and look forward to getting this vital project underway in the weeks ahead.”
The MTA is working on nights and weekends and taking advantage of the overnight closure of the subway to minimize inconvenience to 35,000 riders. The MTA is coordinating work so it does not coincide with signal replacements in the
 / Line’s Cranberry Tube to reduce service impacts, and negotiated with the contractor to get an earlier start, which will result in fewer weekend outages and an earlier end to the project. The Rutgers Tube Project will rehabilitate systems and components within the tube that were damaged during Superstorm Sandy and replace other parts that have reached the end of their useful lives. Drawing on lessons learned during the
Project, the federally funded Rutgers Tube project will install a cable management racking system much like the one installed in the Line’s Canarsie Tunnel. The project’s 14-month overall construction will be the fastest of all Sandy tube rehabilitations, which averaged 28 months. The project will also feature replacement of track, signal equipment, power and communication cables, fan plant equipment, tunnel lighting and pumps. The project includes work to harden the pumping system as a resiliency enhancement by relocating the pump controls outside of the flood zone and providing a backup generator connection. The tube was inundated with more than 1.5 million gallons of water during Superstorm Sandy.
To take advantage of the diversions of service for the work within the Rutgers Tube, the project includes structural repairs and platform accessibility work at the East Broadway station as well as cellular service within the tube.
The Rutgers tube rehabilitation is the first of its kind to fully utilize the fast-track design-build approach, rather than design-bid-build.
On nights and weekends for three weeks beginning Sept. 14 and one week each in October and November, and on nights and weekends for four months in early 2021, there will be no train service at the East Broadway or York St stations between 9:30 p.m. and 5 a.m. The World Trade Center
 station will also be closed to customers.
Free shuttle bus service to nearby subway stations will be provided at East Broadway and York St. The Chambers St
/ station and Cortlandt St  / station will also serve as alternative points of entry into the system. Customer service notifications are being posted at stations and on the MTA website, the MYmta app and social media. Customers can also sign up for text and email alerts at www.myMTAalerts.com.
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