An overwhelming majority of L train riders want the MTA to close the Canarsie Tunnel altogether for 18 months so it can hurry up and get repair work over with rather than dragging it out for years, a new study shows.
Out of hundreds of L train straphangers surveyed by the advocacy group Riders Alliance, 77 percent said they would rather see the MTA take on the proposed complete tunnel shut-down, leaving the train running only between the Bedford Avenue stop in Williamsburg and the Rockaway Parkway stop in Canarsie.
“This is the least of two bad options,” said L train rider Masha Burina.
The MTA’s other proposal would allow some train service in the tunnel while the repair work is done, but that would prolong the project much longer — at least three years.
And the proposed tunnel service wouldn’t exactly be convenient under the second plan, anyway.
The Manhattan-bound L train would have to stop at the Lorimer Street station, where riders would board shuttle buses to the Bedford Avenue station. There, they would take trains into the city that would run every 12 minutes.
The riders surveyed also called for the MTA to increase runs on other lines such as the G, J, and C, establish a dedicated bus lane along 14th Street in Manhattan and boost ferry service on the East River.