Following an article on Patch at the end of 2012 announcing that the reopening of the Smith-9th St. subway station would be delayed from it's original Dec. 31 deadline, the MTA responded on Tuesday afternoon to confirm they intend to renew service at the long-dormant F/G stop by April 2013.
Completion of construction at the Gowanus and Carroll Gardens border station is targeted for June.
"Work on the platform level of the Smith-9th Sts. station is complete with the installation of all new platform surfaces, new platform edge rubbing boards, new lighting and a new public address system," stated Deirdre Parker, a representative of the MTA. "Work continues on the new, more spacious control house and the reshaping of the enclosure of the escalator/stairs to improve customer flow."
Regarding the delays plaguing the station, Parker alluded to the "quality control" issues noted in the MTA's Semi-Annual Update on NYCT Stations by the Capital Program Oversight Committee, but added that workers have also been hindered by the unusual structure of the site.
"The contractor is behind schedule on this project due to problems with sub-contractors and the challenges associated with the unique design of the station," she said. "We are holding the contractor to the terms of the contract."
The station initially closed in June 2011 for repairs "necessary to rehabilitate the steel and concrete viaduct which first opened in 1933 as part of the IND system." Since then, the reopening has been pushed back multiple times—in each instance citing problems with the contractor.
"We expect to have the station ready for re-opening by the end of the first quarter (March)," Parker wrote to Patch in an e-mail, "and substantial completion of the entire project by the second quarter (June) of 2013."
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