Anxiously Awaiting The Carroll Street Station Grand Entrance Re-Opening

With a title like that, this post will probably disappoint:  I don't have the answer yet on when the 2nd Place entrance will be thrown open for the community.  The construction has seemed to last forever, but there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel.  And yesterday, an opening in the construction fence.

I took a closer look and snapped a couple shots of the once and future entranceway.  Note the steel beam above the entrance which presumably will support the entrance signage.

On closer inspection, it looks like the entranceway will be partly glass on the Smith Street side, providing a little extra visibility into the entryway when the commercial space is open.

Finally, I took a longer shot from the stoop of the derelict property across the street.

This was a hard-fought and amazingly long battle.  Despite the contextual re-zoning and a valiant effort by the community the developers were granted a variance by the Board of Standards and Appeals to build to the full extent of the old zoning law.  It's hard not to be bitter about an outcome that, in my opinion, was unsupported by the facts or the law.  But it's more productive (and healthier) to look on the bright side, since we can no longer change the outcome.  The mature trees on 2nd Place survived.  The original "Heavy Metal" Scarano facade was scrapped (graphic originally from Curbed).

The Quadrini design certainly isn't perfect, but it's a measured improvement over that.

Lastly, the old gravel parking lot which encroached on a substantial portion of the block's courtyards and was, frankly, a blight on the corner, is gone.  The 24-hour residential presence over the subway entrance will improve security in the late night hours.  And it won't be long before the construction fences will be down, the subway entrance re-opened, and the next battle for neighborhood preservation is joined.

Petition to Temporarily Extend B68 Bus Route During Culver Viaduct Work-Related Station Closures

Councilman Lander has a petition up asking the MTA to temporarily extend the B68 to 9th Street and 8th Avenue to alleviate the impacts of the Culver Viaduct reconstruction.  From Lander's email:

MTA representatives (including Thomas Pendergast, President of New York City Transit) told us that they believe that “backriding” (i.e. taking the train south) to Church Avenue, and then switching to the northbound trains, will be the fastest option for F/G riders.  That may be true for some, but I strongly believe that extending service on existing bus routes would be quicker for many others who will be extremely inconvenienced by the station closures, and is the right thing for the MTA to do. 

One great suggestion I have heard from many of you is to extend the B68 bus (which runs along Prospect Park Southwest and Coney Island Avenue) past its usual terminus at Bartel Pritchard Square (at the 15th St/PPSW Station), to 9th St and 8th Ave, where riders could pick up the F train. This would make for an easier commute into Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn for many in Windsor Terrace and Kensington. MTA officials agreed to take another look at this idea. 

So I have set up a petition, and my staff and I will be out on Tuesday morning, together with the Straphangers Campaign, at the 15th Street and Ft. Hamilton stations gathering signatures. Please stop by on your way in, or sign the petition online.

The MTA did agree to a few small modifications, including:

Monitor the B61 bus and increase service if necessary

Add a stop on the B35 Limited (express) bus at Church Avenue and Ocean Parkway/E. 7th Street

Ask the NYC DOT to add bike parking at the Church Ave and 7th Ave stops

Distribute more information on existing bus routes that connect these lines

By themselves, though, these are not enough.  I know that this is an extremely frustrating situation for transit riders in Windsor Terrace and Kensington. The station closures are part of a project necessary to rehabilitate the aging F/G line. But the MTA can do better to provide some alternatives. I will continue to push, and hope you will join me.

I've signed on.  I hope you will too.

More on the F/G Service Disruptions

*UPDATED BELOW*
The Brooklyn Downtown Star called me about the upcoming service disruptions on the Culver Line (F&G trains) that will leave many riders at Ft. Hamilton Parkway and 15th Street stations in the lurch.

Transit advocates and local Councilman Brad Lander have called for NYC Transit to provide shuttle service along the affected route during the duration of the outages.  The unfortunate reality is that that is unlikely to happen.  Ideally, the MTA could take this opportunity to test out something new, such as running bus service through the Battery Tunnel to supplement the affected service area.  But the chances for robust mitigation were essentially doomed when the State Senate smothered Congestion Pricing (and/or East River Bridge Tolls).

I applaud our City Council Member Brad Lander for standing up for the residents of the 39th District and the visitors who depend on the F/G lines for their mobility.  But until our dysfunctional state legislature provides sustainable means of funding for NYC Transit, the burden will fall on the riding public in the form of increasing fares and diminishing services.

One thing you can do to let Albany know how important reliable mass transit is to NYC is join the Rider Rebellion sponsored by Transportation Alternatives.

UPDATE:  I received this comment from Councilman Lander, which clarifies the service mitigation he is requesting:

One small thing: what we are actually pushing for on the F/G is not shuttle service, but simply a short/temporary extension of the B68 (which runs up Coney Island Avenue and Prospect Park SW, through sections of Windsor Terrace & Kensington served by the 2 stations there facing closures) from its current terminus at Bartel Pritchard Square/15th Street Station, to the 7th Avenue F/G Station.

We'll have an online petition up tomorrow, and Straphangers & I will be out at the stations tomorrow petitioning live.

This is a sensible and cost-effective fix that would be a win for everyone involved.  Transit users would gain from the improved service mitigation, and the MTA could benefit from some much needed good press.

F/G Service Disruptions Starting . . . Now

I'll have more on this later, but for now two things.

1.  Shuttle buses replace subway service on the F/G lines between Jay Street and Church Avenue this weekend.

2.  Four months of pain for riders at the Fort Hamilton Parkway and 15th Street F stations begin early Saturday (midnight Friday night).  Even greater hardships await users of the Smith-9th Street station over the next two years.

Both 1 and 2 above are due to necessary work on the Culver Viaduct Rehabilitation.  For more on the these disruptions, and indeed for all your weekend service advisory needs, head to Second Avenue Sagas for the scoop.

Image credit - MTA via Second Avenue Sagas.

F Train Weekend Shuttle Schedule - Mark Your Calendars!

Given the scope of the work that is being done on the Culver Viaduct (the elevated tracks between Carroll Street station and the 4th Avenue Station), 7 weekends in 2010 is not that bad. The bad news? Two of those weekends are right around the corner. The good news? I'll be out of town for one of them. :) (below from MTA via Senator Squadron's office)

Below, please find the weekends in 2010 when MTA NYC Transit will need to suspend F and G service between Jay Street and Church Avenue, due to the ongoing Culver Viaduct rehabilitation project. There will be more weekends in 2011, which I will be able to give you specific dates for later this year.
A shuttle bus will replace F G service between Jay Street and Church Avenue and will operate both local and express. Hours of operation for each weekend are 12:01 a.m. Saturdays through 5:00 a.m. Mondays.

February 20-22
February 27-March 1
May 8-10
May 15-17
May 22-24
November 13-15
November 20-22

Mayor Endorses Gary Reilly's Proposal for F Express / V To Brooklyn

Yesterday Mayor Bloomberg announced a number of proposals for improving transit service (which I'll get into in more detail later).

The headline for the city-wide media is the proposal for free cross-town bus service in Manhattan (a good idea). But the big news for Brooklynites is the Mayor's belated support for enhanced F/V service on the Culver Line in Brooklyn, which I and other transit advocates have been calling for for years. From the Brooklyn Paper,

“Closer to Downtown, you’re talking about a couple of minutes. As you get farther out towards Coney Island you’re talking about potentially saving 20 minutes — that’s huge. But it’s also about the possible alleviation of crowding everywhere,” said Gary Reilly, a Democratic candidate for City Council in Carroll Gardens, who has advocated for years on behalf of the F line. “We need this and we deserve it. It’s a low–hanging piece of fruit.”

Back in 2007, over 4,300 people signed on to my petition to restore F Express service and extend the V line out to Brooklyn. Ben from Second Avenue Sagas, Jen from KensingtonBrooklyn and I have kept the pressure on the MTA and elected officials over the years to ensure that Brooklyn gets these despeerately needed transit improvements when the Culver Viaduct reconstruction is complete - and we led the fight to ensure that the Viaduct reconstruction would include the necessary track and signal work to accommodate express service.

In the summer of 2007, I held a press conference at the Church Avenue F station with Councilmen Bill deBlasio, Simcha Felder and Domenic Recchia, along with Paul Steely White from Transportation Alternatives and Gene Russianoff from the Straphanger's Campaign to demand enhanced F/V service fro Brooklyn.

In these difficult times we need to make the most of our transit infrastructure. The restoration of express/local service on the F/V to Brooklyn is a relatively cheap and efficient way to not only improve the quality of life for tens of thousands of Brooklynites, but also to aid in the revitalization of Coney Island and South Brooklyn.

Brooklyn deserves enhanced F/V service. And our time is coming.

All posts on the F/V Petition

The battle for better transit service is what inspired me to run for City Council - if you care about improving the state of our transit system, visit my campaign website at www.garyreilly.org. Our team is growing every day, and you too can help to make our city a better place to live.

Squadron Seeks MTA Review of F Line: What About F/V Service?

The Brooklyn Paper ran a story yesterday on Senator Squadron's request that MTA review service on the Culver Line (aka the F train in Brooklyn).

Ben over at Second Avenue Sagas lays out some alternatives for improving service along the line, including the enhanced F/V service that we have been advocating for years now.

Right now, the Culver Line isn’t close to being at capacity. It could easily support the V train running out to Church at rush hour, and as one person commenting on Gersh’s article notes, the MTA could probably even run the V along the A/C through Lower Manhattan to pick up Wall St. commuters bypassed by the F. In one felt swoop, the MTA would make travel easier while alleviating congestion on the Culver line through Brooklyn.
The second solution — an observation — is a call for those people impacted by this service to just wait. On July 5, the MTA will extend G train service south to Church Ave. While not ideal, those who cannot get on the F train due to congestion can ride the G to Hoyt-Schermerhorn and transfer to the A or C. It’s not nearly as convenient as extending the V, but it may serve the same function.

There is a lively discussion in the SAS comments, check it out.

Kensington Man Writes Novel On F Train

At least one person has benefitted from a lack of F Express service: Peter V. Brett of Kensington, Brooklyn, has used his commute on the F train to write a 400 page novel.

The Warded Man, a fantasy epic featuring humans battling demons, is Brett's first novel.

What's really bizarre is that I tore this article out of the AM-NY April 8, 2009 issue . . . and it's nowhere to be found on their website. I wanted to link to the article, but where the hell is it? UPDATE: Article is HERE. (Thanks Scott!)

Anyway, the article quotes Brett saying, "It's really sad to say my muse lives on the F train, but it may come to that." Brett, you've got 4-5 more years before we can bring back the express service, but don't worry - you can always take the local.

At Last: Broadway Lafayette B/D/F/V Connection to Uptown 6 Under Construction

Second Avenue Sagas blogged about this nearly two years ago and I linked to the story back then (as well as lifting this rendering just now). This would be a major improvement for Brooklynites bound for the East Side.

This may not be on MTA Capital Construction's Major Projects list, but projects like this have a tremendous improvement on quality of life . . . a few minutes a day for hundreds or thousands of people adds up to a lot more happiness in the world.

The thrust of the Daily News article today is on the temporary inconvenience to area merchants, but that shouldn't overshadow the ongoing benefit the riders will see from this connection.

New F Train Cars; MTA Testing 11 Car Trains

Second Avenue Sagas posts on the new subway cars on the F line:

Last week, New York City Transit rolled out some new rolling stock along the F line. Riders from Jamaica to Coney Island-Stillwell Ave. will now enjoy the clean, sterile comfort of the new R160s and the crisp announcements that come along with it.

I've ridden a couple of these new trains, and they are a vast improvement over the old ones.

Meanwhile, the Daily News reports that the MTA has tested an 11 car train configuration on the F line.

"We obviously neither have the capital nor operating funding to implement anything like this in the foreseeable future," NYC Transit President Howard Roberts said.
"We are just looking at feasibility for planning purposes," Roberts added.

My initial sense is that upgrading the signaling would be a better solution than undergoing construction to extend platforms at multiple stations as would be necessary to run an 11-car configuration. But I'm open to the possibilities if the numbers work out.

Culver Viaduct Contract Awarded: Service Disruptions Ahead

A frequent question I get is whether the Culver Viaduct rehab will be cancelled or delayed due to the finance crisis. The answer is no; the Viaduct work is a critical project that must be done, and is still on schedule.

The latest from the Daily News:

The MTA board Wednesday is expected to award a $179 million contract to rebuild the Culver Viaduct, a crumbling concrete and steel structure above local streets and the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn's Carroll Gardens.
The F line is the third busiest in the system with more than 575,000 daily riders. The viaduct has two stations: Smith-9th Sts. and 4th Ave.-9th St. . . . .Depending on the phase, some riders will have to take shuttle buses or double-back and take a train south to another station and catch a northbound ride.
The first impact, Cafiero said, would be a benefit. Starting in the fall, the G train's route will be extended deeper into Brooklyn to Church Ave.
In a much needed glimmer of good news for the MTA, the contract to be approved by board Wednesday is $62.5 million less than originally estimated.

It is nice to see some good news in the mire. The other good news is that, once this project is completed in 2012 or 2013, the only thing necessary to restore express and local service on the Culver Line is political willpower.

The stations affected by closures will be Smith - Ninth and 4th Avenue.

MTA State of the System Address

MTA honcho Elliot Sander gave the annual address this morning; unfortunately, yours truly was turned away at the door, along with dozens of others (invited guests, mind you) because the place was packed to the rafters with press and interested parties. Damn you, F train!

Fortunately, the NYT's Sewell Chan was on hand for the festivities:

In the space of an hour at the Great Hall of the Cooper Union, Mr. Sander not only called for completion of the authority’s major capital projects, like the first phase of the Second Avenue subway and the East Side Access project to link the Long Island Rail Road with Grand Central Terminal, but also outlined a building program over the next 25 to 40 years that will “rely heavily on the M.T.A.’s diamonds in the rough: underutilized or dormant freight and commuter rail rights-of-way that can be transformed into subway lines; and lightly used middle tracks on subway lines that can be used for new express services.”

He proposed extending the Second Avenue subway to Lower Manhattan, where the line would then travel under the East River and on to Downtown Brooklyn and Jamaica, Queens, via the Long Island Rail Road’s Atlantic Avenue branch, with a connection to the AirTrain to Kennedy International Airport. The Second Avenue subway could connect to new tracks on land owned by the L.I.R.R. in Queens. Tracks on Rockaway Beach could be used to provide new rail access to southern Queens. The Regional Plan Association’s circumferential subway line, meanwhile, would convert a lightly used Bay Ridge freight line into a subway service that would run in an arc from southern Brooklyn to Queens to the Bronx.

Mr. Sander also envisioned expanding Metro-North service to Co-op City, Parkchester and Hunts Point in the Bronx. Also in the Bronx, he discussed the possibility of extending the D train north and east to connect with the No. 2 and 5 subway stations at Gun Hill Road for more direct connections between the central Bronx and Manhattan’s West Side. The Metro-North Williams Bridge station nearby could be part of a new subway and train hub.

On Staten Island, the northern and western shores could be “excellent candidates for bus rapid transit and light-rail efforts.

Mr. Sander mentioned the possibility of expanding the use of shuttle trains on Long Island; allowing Metro-North trains to travel over the Tappan Zee bridge to Orange and Rockland Counties; and developing a second AirTrain service, to La Guardia Airport, by building a new link from the L.I.R.R. station at Woodside, Queens, along or above existing rail and highway rights-of-way.

Check out that bold piece . . . sound like any unused express tracks we know around here? This is exactly the kind of address i was hoping for from Sander. I'm hopeful that MTA will make available some visuals, and if I can get my hands on them I will post them.

Ben Kabak at Second Avenue Sagas was inside and will have a post up shortly.

F Express Makes Gowanus Lounge Year End Tallies

I'd like to thank the academy . . . and Second Avenue Sagas, which brought this little accolade to our attention. By the way, both of those sites should be in your daily rotation.

We've still got plenty of work ahead of us . . . and there is the Culver Viaduct Rehabilitation and total renovations of the Smith & Ninth and 4th Avenue stations in our future. But I am confident that with continued community outcry, we will see a return of the F express when those projects are completed.

And we can't settle for less than enhanced F/V&G service on the line. Happy New Year to all.

F Train Report Card

You'd think an F Train report card would practically write itself . . . F! Ben Kabak has the full run-down on the F line's C- grade over at Second Avenue Sagas . . . here's a tiny morsel, with the shocking (shocking!) top three complaints:

What follows are the top ten complaints for another C-minus grade joining a long line of mediocre grades. After the jump, the full grade breakdown.

1. Reasonable wait times for trains
2. Adequate room on board at rush hour
3. Minimal delays during trips

Ben also notes the potential for F express/ V local service once the viaduct work is complete - the holy grail of Culver Line service, which is potentially in our grasp. Make sure to let the MTA and your elected officials hear, regularly, how important this is to Brooklyn.

Smith and Ninth: Averting Disaster

From the comments, the intrepid Cap'n Transit has some creative suggestions for the MTA to mitigate the impacts of the Smith/9th station rehab (station closed for nine months . . . and that's if there are no delays).

First things first: MTA has to do a better job of outreach on a project like this. The Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association didn't have any warning that this was coming: the first any of us heard of it was from the Metro article last week. But it's not too late. The station work is expected to take place in 2010; there is still time to get community input on the necessary mitigation efforts.

First off, running a shuttle bus directly from Smith and Ninth into the Battery Tunnel and out to the Fulton Street Transit corridor is a must. Second, there should be some shuttle service to 4th Avenue for those who are doing a reverse commute. Simply running a shuttle back and forth between Carroll Street and Smith/Ninth is unacceptable.

Long term, as Cap'n Transit suggests, a tunnel would be nice; however the limiting factor (besides the obvious cost) is topography. The train would have to take a pretty massive dip under the Gowanus Canal, and the relative elevations at Carroll Street and in Windsor Terrace are pretty high. Thus, the ride would be a bit of a roller coaster along that stretch, and steep tunnels are tough for the trains to handle.

I could be wrong about that last bit, I understand that to be the problem.

Smith and 9th Subway StationTo Close for 12 Months

Wow. This is the first I've heard of this . . . although in a way it's not surprising, given the scope of the Viaduct rehabilitation and the total rehabilitation of the Smith and 9th Station that is scheduled.

According to the Metro article that broke the news, the MTA has made the community "well aware" of this development. However, when an MTA spokesman came to speak to CGNA in late August, he mentioned only that Smith and 9th Street was in line for a total overhaul (and the station is in dire need of one). But there was no mention of closing the entire station down for any length of time, as I recall it.

12 months is a long time. If this happens at the same time that MTA closes the stairs at the Carroll Street Station's 2nd Place entrance for Billy Stein's 360 Smith, all hell's gonna break loose.

UPDATES:

How the hell did I miss the last paragraph?

There is another silver lining: The G will be extended to Church Avenue throughout the project, and one express track will be rehabilitated — potentially opening the door to a permanent F express in years to come.

And Jen at KensingtonBrooklyn noted earlier this week that an MTA spokesman would be at the Albemarle Neighborhood Association meeting tonight at 6:30. Details HERE.

Congestion Pricing - Brooklyn Presser Tomorrow

Tomorrow at 11:00 there will be a press conference in Downtown Brooklyn to publicize the map of proposed initial transit enhancements to go along with congestion pricing.

As you can see in the photo (click for a larger image), the enhancements are essentially new and bolstered existing bus lines throughout Brooklyn. The only immediate subway enhancement, near as I can tell, is extending C trains to 10 cars (a welcome improvement). Of course, any version of congestion pricing that comes down the pike MUST include enhanced F/V service in its medium-term planning.

Michael Cairl of the Park Slope Civic Council had this to say:

"Immediate implementation of transit improvements is essential to the success of congestion mitigation, and such improvements must occur whether or not congestion pricing is adopted, because of the severity of congestion today. Immediate improvements must include peak-hour, peak-direction express service on the F line between Kings Highway and Jay Street-Borough Hall, accompanied by increased frequency of G service and its extension to Church Avenue. MTA New York City Transit should also give serious consideration to extending peak-hour V service from its current terminal at Second Avenue to Kings Highway, providing local service on the Culver Line to complement F express service. Together, these will speed travel to the Central Business District, improve transit options within Brooklyn, and will contribute significantly to a reduction in congestion."

That's right on the money.

I'll post further details of the press conference when I have them.

Metro's Michael Rundle on the F Express

A good article out from Michael Rundle at Metro this morning.

The article leads with the word that the F express is stalled until the Culver Viaduct Rehabilitation. Buried further down in the article was some good news:

During the project’s next four years, she said, “We would work with the community, do all the analysis and discussion required to contemplate a future F express service,” which would initially run north from Church Avenue.
The latest push for an F express was propelled by Carroll Gardens blogger Gary Reilly, who started an online petition that caught the attention of local politicians and MTA officials. Yesterday Reilly suggested the V could eventually run into Brooklyn on the F tracks.

The other buried gem: "One area will be set aside to test different vendors of automated Communications-Based Train Control equipment."

So it seems like there could be more one-operator trains in our future. If the technology works, this could substantially reduce operating costs.

And if you haven't signed on to the Enhanced F/V Petition, sign on up. Over 4,000 signatures so far.

F Express in the Daily News

Councilmen Simcha Felder and Domenic Recchia have a solid piece of F Express advocacy in today's Daily News. Check it out.

Also, in another Daily News article on the MTA's congestion pricing impact costs:

The MTA said it would need 309 new buses to serve additional riders, including
12 new express routes in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, and 46 new subway cars to run more frequently on the 1, E and F lines and to make C trains longer.

More cars for the F line? That's music to my ears. The campaign is working. Keep pushing, people. Keep pushing.

Assemblyman Brennan on the F Express

I reached out to Assemblyman Brennan's office last week because of an anonymous comment I received about six weeks ago:

Anonymous said...

Man, you need to do an interview with Assembly Member Jim Brennan so that he can explain to you why a restoration of the F express will NEVER happen on his watch. I suggest that you go talk to him and report back.

Far out, man. Buzzkill! That was quite an assertion, but since I asked for some clarification and never got it, I didn't take it very seriously. I had also heard from various people, that Brennan is a straight shooter, a shining example, honorable, etc. Eventually, curiosity got the better of me and I called up Brennan's office.

Turns out, Jim Brennan CAMPAIGNED on restoring the F Express back in the early 1980's. However, apparently vibration and property damage in the Windsor Terrace area have been a serious concern among some of Brennan's constituents. This led to moving the F express to a back burner, and focusing on getting the MTA to correct the vibration issues, with some results, but persistent problems for many properties along the line. The problem seems to be that the line runs too close to the surface in this swath.

My response was, we can fix the vibration problem with better tracking and trackbed; restoring the F Express still needs to be a priority.

Assemblyman Brennan followed up this week with a statement and with a copy of a letter he sent to the MTA this week, pasted below:

I support the concept of restoration of F express service and extending
the G train to Church Avenue and V train service along the F line in
Brooklyn. However, restoration of the F express must proceed cautiously,
with extensive testing and review of track conditions. The property
above the F train tunnel has experienced serious vibration and noise
problems over the years, primarily in Windsor Terrace but also in
Kensington and along the Ninth Street corridor. My office has intervened
four times over the past 20 years to get the M.T.A. to spend millions in
track renovation and repairs to protect adjacent homes and property from
damage due to vibration.

At this time we are sending a letter to the M.T.A. asking for extensive
testing of F express service prior to the beginning of construction on
the elevated platforms at Fourth Avenue and Smith-9th Street. Thank you
for your efforts to raise this issue.

And the letter:

Dear Mr. Sander,

Thank you for your response to my letter concerning F Line Express service. I do understand that the Culver Viaduct rehabilitation project will require use of the F Express tracks, beginning in 2008. However, the Culver Viaduct rehabilitation and bypass will have significant impact on service during the period of work and it is important for the community to have meaningful information about what to expect, especially in view of the longstanding vibration problems experienced by property owners along the F line in Windsor Terrace and Kensington.

I would therefore like to ask you to begin testing F Line Express service prior to the Culver Viaduct rehabilitation by running a limited number of express trains over these tracks over a period of 3-4 months. Such a study would provide valuable information about the current quality of the tracks, would test the impact of the service on surrounding communities, and would provide data for assessing the value and viability of re-introducing regular F Express Service after completion of the Culver Viaduct project. Given the chronic subway vibration problems in Windsor Terrace and Kensington communities, it is prudent to conduct this sort of controlled study before you begin running trains on the F Express tracks during the rehabilitation project.

I would like to invite you to come out to Brooklyn to brief the community boards and local elected officials about the service impact of the project and to begin a dialogue about restoration of the F Line Express. I would also appreciate a complete description of the schedule and impact of the rehabilitation projects, as well as a map of the location of the F Line Express tracks. Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

James F. Brennan

That's one more elected official on board the F Express. I think Brennan's idea of testing the express tracks out before the Viaduct project gets under way is sound; if the trackage will need a major overhaul, let's get that out of the way while the Culver Viaduct rehab is under way.

You (probably) heard it here first.