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Wave barriers, a debris shield and cushioned tracks: Rockaway A train gets a new life
By
Stephen Nessen
Published May 11, 2025
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Stephen Nessen
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Stephen Nessen
Published May 11, 2025
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When Rockaway A train riders return to their regular route on May 19 following a four-month shutdown, the MTA says they can expect a smoother ride.
In addition to building 900-foot long, 12-foot high wave barriers to prevent storm surges on both sides of the tracks, the transit agency installed a “debris shield” to prevent items in the water from splashing onto the tracks. The South Channel Bridge was replaced down to the studs.
The MTA also replaced 1,500 feet of tracks leading to the bridge and put a cushion under the tracks to extend the life of the rocks around the rails.
“We got all kinds of weather conditions, hurricanes. Instead of waiting for the next disaster to strike, we have replaced our infrastructure out here so that we can keep running service instead of having to deal with it after,” MTA head of construction Jamie Torres-Springer told reporters on a tour Friday.
In 2012, Hurricane Sandy sent storm water surging through the Rockaways from both the Atlantic Ocean and Jamaica Bay, inundating the tracks along with the rest of the peninsula. Parts of the A line and the shuttle in the Rockaways were closed for 7 months for repairs.
The MTA says new wave barriers will prevent storm surges from flooding the tracks.
Stephen Nessen
But the transit infrastructure getting commuters from Howard Beach into the Rockaways needed further renovations, which have just concluded.
The MTA opted to fully close the line to the Rockaways to undertake nearly $400 million in repairs. Commuters took shuttle buses to and from the Howard Beach-JFK Airport station. Torres-Springer said a full closure was preferable to trying to do the work on nights and weekends, even if it inconvenienced the 9,000 daily commuters who use the route.
The MTA has recently been hammering Amtrak over its plan to fully close two East River tunnels, one at a time, for repairs over three years. The MTA wants Amtrak to do the work on nights and weekends instead.
“Every context is very different,” Torres-Springer said. “This is simply the case where physically there was no way to preserve this viaduct, it had to be demolished in order to be reconstructed. That's very different than any other situation.”
One of the trickiest parts of the project was replacing the South Channel Bridge, a more than 70-year-old swing bridge that must open for marine traffic, including boats carrying jet fuel bound for JFK Airport.
The MTA couldn’t elevate the train tracks high enough to obviate the use of a swing bridge, but said the bridge has been outfitted with new, modern parts.
New tracks should make for a smoother ride to and from the Rockaways.
Stephen Nessen
“ We're gonna have reliable service out to the Rockaways for many decades to come,” Torres-Springer said. “We've gone about it and done it the right way.”
The MTA did not install modern signal equipment during the extended suspension of service, but workers added casings that will eventually house the communication equipment.
“ That means in the future there's less work to do to make it happen,” Deirdre Harvey, the Rockaway project CEO said.
The completion of the Rockaway project marks the last major construction project on the agency’s agenda until the next phase of the Second Avenue subway. Torres-Springer confirmed the agency expects to award a contract for tunneling of that project near the end of the summer.
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Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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