A train project nears completion in the Rockaways, set to reopen by Memorial Day
ROCKAWAY BEACH, Queens (WABC) -- A repair project on a five-mile stretch of the A train that started in January and shut down a portion of the Rockaways line is now set to open by Memorial Day.
Two hundred construction workers have been working in two shifts, 20 hours a day, since January. And the A train will soon be returning to the Rockaways.
Jamie Torres-Springer is the head of construction and development for the MTA.
"We never want to take service out, but we really didn't have a choice here," Torres-Springer said. "But we promised to bring it back by Memorial Day and we're going to do that on time and on budget."
For the people who live, work or go to school in the Rockaways, the A train is a lifeline. But after 65 years of punishing storms and round-the-clock wear and tear, a section of the route was crumbling, as Eyewitness News first saw back in November.
"Big chunks of it have fallen off. It's not safe. So we've got to replace the whole thing," Torres-Springer said last November.
So a five-mile stretch of it was shut down across Jamaica Bay for crucial repairs. It has included new concrete, new rails and a huge seawall-which they didn't have during Superstorm Sandy.
"The next time there's a storm, we're not going to get that debris floating onto the tracks and we're not going to get damage from wave action," Torres-Springer said. "So this is a resilient system-bring the A train out to the Rockaways and back into the city for people, for generations, to come."
Since January, the A train has been terminating at the Howard Beach/JFK station, where shuttle buses have been running back and forth from the Rockaways. For the 9,000 daily riders it's been an adjustment.
"For me, I don't have a problem because you don't know when things could happen, so to me, safety is my number one priority," one rider said.
Hugo Zamora oversees customer service on the A train project. He says he often gets the same question from customers.
"'Oh, what day is it coming back? Is it coming back on time?' And I'm happy to say that, yes, it will," Zamora said.
There are several, similar projects in the MTA's upcoming $68 billion dollar capital plan, although funding is still uncertain.
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