New York MTA to Reimagine Subway Bottleneck

New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to resolve a decades-old bottleneck in its subway system, reports Stephen Nessen in Gothamist.

“It’s called the Nostrand Interlocking, and all who pass through it are familiar with its wrath. The interlocking is located in the stretch of Central Brooklyn where the 2, 3, 4 and 5 lines intersect, and requires dozens of trains to grind to a halt every hour.” As Nessen explains, the section causes significant delays.

Now, the MTA “aims to reconfigure service to reduce the number of conflicts at the interchange by essentially swapping the 3 and 5 routes east of Franklin Avenue. Instead of turning down Nostrand Avenue, 5 trains would run beneath Eastern Parkway. And instead of intersecting with incoming trains to travel along Eastern Parkway, 3 trains would turn down Nostrand Avenue.”

The plan, which is part of the recently approved, $65 billion five-year capital plan, would require the construction of a new crossover track. “The agency currently has no hard timeline for fixing the bottleneck, but plans to move forward with the work in the coming years.”