As NYC braces for a potentially crippling storm, travel in and around the city will be difficult.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for the city, advising travelers to stay off the roads as much as possible Sunday. Up to a foot is expected, along with bitter cold.
City crews are out treating the roads and the MTA is making plans to try and keep above ground subways clear of snow and ice. Here’s what New Yorkers need to know about getting around this weekend.
Will subways be affected?
The above-ground weather shouldn’t slow down trains running underground, but you might need to take care going up and down the subway steps.
To try and keep the aboveground trains rolling, The MTA has staged four of it’s eight de-icing trains around the system, with plans to start running them Saturday morning, ahead of any precipitation. The train’s cars spray a de-icing solution on the third rail while scraping off any accumulation.
The trains are staged at the E 180th St Yard in the Bronx, and at Pitkin Yard, Coney Island Yard, and the 38th St. work train yard in Brooklyn. Two more de-icing trains are prepped to enter service should the four staged trains prove insufficient, transit officials said.
De-icing operations will continue once snow begins to fall, and the MTA’s ten snowblower trains will begin running to clear the rails.
Though sources tell the Daily News that above-ground subway service could be suspended if the rate of snowfall becomes too high to clear the third rail, MTA chair Janno Lieber said Friday that his agency was “determined to maintain service” through the storm.
Will the buses be running?
The MTA’s articulated buses — the extra long ones used on many of the Manhattan cross-town routes- are being taken out of service.
But the MTA plans to run its shorter buses all weekend with show chains for improved traction to keep the system rollng.
How about the commuter rail lines?
Metro-North rail service will be running hourly service on Sunday, the expected height of the storm. Metro-North trains will be on a holiday schedule on Monday.
Long Island Rail Road schedules will be largely unaffected, though service between Ronkonkoma and Greenport,is being suspended.
Should I even think about driving?
With low visibility and questionable traction, city officials are advising all New Yorkers to stay off the roads.
But the Sanitation Department, which heads up most plowing and salting operations in the city, got to work pre-treating roads and bike lanes with brine solution Friday. Sanitation workers will begin plowing streets and bike lanes once accumulation reaches two inches.
What about parking? Will snow banks block in cars?
Drivers looking to park on city streets during and after the storm will have to contend with snowbanks, and those looking to move their cars from a parking spot may have more than a foot of snow to dig out from.
Will alternate side parking be suspended Monday?
That may be the one transportation bright side to the storm.
A Department of Sanitation spokesman told The News that alternate side parking is typically suspended during ongoing snow plowing or when snow or ice blocks access to the curb.
