MTA considering shutting down 14th Street to traffic during L line repairs

NEW YORK (WABC) -- There's a proposal to consider shutting down car traffic on one of the busiest crosstown streets in Manhattan, and it's because of subway construction.

The MTA says it will need 14th Street for buses when the L Subway Line shuts down for more than a year.

We all know that the planned closure of the L line is going to create a big mess underground, but some of the chaos may spill above ground as well.

It was the normal sea of cars and taxis along 14th Street Wednesday afternoon, but it could be a far different scene within a few years.

The MTA is now studying a partial or complete shutdown of the street to cars when repairs begin on the L train line.

The stoppage of car traffic would allow buses to take thousands of L train riders across town more quickly when the train's tunnel between Brooklyn and Manhattan shuts down in 2019 for 18 months of repairs related to Superstorm Sandy.

The idea has been batted around for months, but now officials will study the potential impacts of the closure and expect to have answers in the spring.

Drivers Eyewitness News spoke to seemed less than excited by the idea.