An eight-minute-long video the MTA posted today should set a few frustrated straphangers' minds to rest. Inconveniencing probably the whole universe select pockets of the city, R train service has been suspended between lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn since August. But hey, rest assured, because actual construction work is being done in the 93-year-old tunnel that connects the boroughs, which suffered considerable damage from Hurricane Sandy flooding. The first bit of the video shows a hard-hatted project manager explaining the ongoing work on the tracks, electrical sources, and signal equipment... so skip ahead to 2:11 if you want a glimpse of what it's like to work underground all day. Second Avenue Sagas knows more about the technical stuff, but there's lots of drilling, artistically shot falling rubble, backhoes, leaks, and crumbled infrastructure, and other various sorts of destructo- and constructo-porn. The tunnel will reopen next October.
· Montague St Tunnel Repair Work [Youtube/MTA via NY1]
· More subway coverage [Curbed]
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