By Christina Santucci
Repairs to the A train, which is expected to reopen in late June, have cost more than $650 million so far, a spokesman for the MTA said Monday of the preliminary figure.
The work has included fixes to the strip of land on which the tracks are built between Howard Beach and the Rockaways, removal of storm debris like boats and repairs to the track bed as well as the signal, power and communication systems.
“We’ve built back up the infrastructure,” said MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz.
In an April update, the agency said it had replaced damaged and missing third rail protection boards and insulators and was working on building out the shoulders on the east and west sides of the tracks, among more than one dozen other jobs.
Part of the project also includes the construction of a $15.7 million sea wall on low-lying Broad Channel. When completed, the wall will rise 7 feet above the tracks and run 2 miles in length on the eastern side of the island.
As this work progresses, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to continue shuttle bus service as well as the H train — a free shuttle within the Rockaway Peninsula — until A service is restored.
And riders of the Rockaway ferry can expect the boats to keep running Monday through Friday until the A is back, according to the city Economic Development Corp.
The city’s contract with the ferry is scheduled to expire May 15, but the EDC and Seastreak are currently in the process of renegotiating so that the service will continue until the A train is restored.
The ferry, operated by Seastreak just on weekdays since November, has an average daily ridership of between 500 and 650 people, according to the EDC.
Brett Chamberlain, a spokesman for Seatreak, said, “We are happy to provide this service for the folks that were affected in the Rockaways.”
Reach editor Christina Santucci by e-mail at timesledgerphotos@gmail.com or by phone at 718-260-4589.
