The MTA has announced that starting at the end of the month through August 2011, 5 train service in the Bronx will be shut down for the East 180th Street signal modernization project. From March 27th onwards, express riders will have to endure seven more stops between East 180 Street and 3 Ave-149 Street.
While the MTA's website claims that the substantial change in service will only add so much as five minutes to the cumulative commute, exasperated riders anticipate counting an additional thirty minutes into their wait. Riuvelle Soto tells the Post that the train is "always stopping between stations, sometimes for minutes, because they say there's train traffic ahead of us. That's going to get worse now."
The 5 train will begin to make all 2 local stops for the next eighteen months while the MTA performs repairs on the 180th Street station. By August of next year, the MTA promises a renovated station along with an upgraded signal system.
