Monday Commute: the A Train Suspension Rolls On in Queens — the 1, J and M Come Back
Two of the weekend's three subway suspensions end before the Monday rush — 1 trains return at 5 a.m. and J and M trains return Sunday night — but the big one does not: A trains still will not run between Rockaway Blvd and Ozone Park-Lefferts Blvd on Monday, in a nine-day signal shutdown that lasts until November 16.
Monday morning splits into two commutes. The short suspensions are over: 1 trains, which have not run between Van Cortlandt Park-242 St and Dyckman St since 11:30 p.m. Friday for structural work, return at 5 a.m. Monday, and the free shuttle buses that covered the gap come off with them. J and M trains beat the rush by more: their Brooklyn-Manhattan suspension, for track and switch work, ends at 10 p.m. Sunday, so Monday is a normal morning on both lines.
The Queens suspension is the commute. A trains still do not run between Rockaway Blvd and Ozone Park-Lefferts Blvd on Monday — the closure that began at 12:30 a.m. Saturday runs nine continuous days, to 5 a.m. Monday, November 16, for signal modernization work. For 104 St, 111 St and Ozone Park-Lefferts Blvd, the MTA's free shuttle buses run between Rockaway Blvd and Ozone Park-Lefferts Blvd, stopping at 104 St and 111 St, at all times during the suspension. A trains themselves run between Inwood-207 St and Far Rockaway-Mott Av or Howard Beach-JFK Airport, and trains that would normally end at Ozone Park-Lefferts Blvd are rerouted to Howard Beach-JFK Airport instead.
The rest of the weekend's work ends with the weekend, but riders should expect the Monday pattern, not the weekend one, before they leave: the express runs that skipped stops all weekend — downtown 4, 5 and 6 trains express from 125 St to Grand Central-42 St, Manhattan-bound 6 trains express from Pelham Bay Park to Hunts Point Av, uptown B and C locals express from 59 St-Columbus Circle to 125 St, among others the MTA listed — were Friday-night-to-early-Monday changes. The one closure to plan the whole week around is the A. This desk's next traffic file reads the MTA's Monday-morning service status; if the Lefferts branch plan changes, it will change there first.
