fact sheet l train shutdown charrette

7/26/2019 Fact Sheet L Train Shutdown Charrette

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Fact Sheet

Van Alen Institute

L Train Shutdown Charrette

Design teams offer creative solutions for commuting without the L train frominflatable tunnels to vaporettos

Media contact: Steven Thomson

Van Alen Institute

--, [email protected]

On Sunday, June , six interdisciplinary design teams gathered at Van AlenInstitute to develop solutions and workshop ideas that would help the commuteof hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers during the L lines planned repair.Service on the L line will be impacted by repairs scheduled to begin in andlast between and months.

Nearly people joined the competing teams to participate in a presentationand question-and-answer workshop. Creative proposals included a floatinginflatable tunnel, bicycles highways on car

-free streets, and tailored

transportation that incorporated community engagement tools.

The outflow of creativity and infrastructure ingenuity this competition hasgenerated illustrates the importance of inviting both designers and stakeholdersalike to the planning process, said Van Alen Institute Executive Director David


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van der Leer. These proposals can support agencies and everyday New Yorkersenvision an easier, and in some cases, more exciting commute without standardL line service.

The winning team presented a proposal with two key modes of transit: First, alow-capacity, high-frequency water shuttle at Newtown Creek; and second, anew passenger service that uses existing electric infrastructure and industrialtracks. Team members Youngin Yi, a mechanical engineer at Buro HappoldEngineering, and Dillon Pranger an architectural designer at Kohn PedersenFox Associates (KPF) were awarded ,. Van Alen Institute will be workingwith the team to further develop their proposal and prepare it for presentationsbefore transportation planning agencies.

The six teams that presented on Sunday were selected as finalists out of a groupof entrants. The jury used specific criteria, and looked for a proposals

potential to be further developed during the charrette period on Sunday. The teams represented the spectrum of experience, ranging from recent graduates toseasoned professionals, and included architects, landscape architects, engineers,planners, media professionals, and programmers. The proposalsreflected anarray of practical, hard infrastructure elements, digital innovations, andfantastical visions. Finalist teams received an honorarium of .

The jury included: Christopher Bonanos, Senior Editor, New Yorkmagazine Tim Braine, Founder & Executive Director, The Station Alliance

David van der Leer (jury chair), Executive Director, Van Alen Institute Erin Maciel, Project Manager, New York City Department of

Transportation

John Maier, Co-Chair, Public Transit Services Committee, Queens

Community Board No.

Shin-pei Tsay, Executive Director, Gehl Institute

The jury also took into consideration a popular vote by audience attendees.

Proposals were judged on criteria including: Accessibility

Potential for economic development Financial feasibility

Socioeconomic equity

Disaster preparedness Inventiveness

High-resolution images of proposals and workshop and presentation photos areavailable here.


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Fora full description of all six proposals, please see the following:

Winning Proposal:Transient Transit Revitalizing Industrial Infrastructure

Team: Youngjin Yi, mechanical engineer, Buro Happold Engineering; DillonPranger, architectural designer, Kohn

Pedersen Fox Associates

Summary: Transient Transit

proposes the development of twoadditional forms of transit in

north Brooklyn by water and railthrough the adaptation of existingbut underused New York Cityindustrial infrastructure:

Newtown Creek and the LIRR

freight track operating between

Fresh Pond Junction and theBushwick Branch.

Submission: Newtown Creek is the

border between Queens and North

Brooklyn, not far from theresidential areas of many L-traincommuters in Greenpoint andWilliamsburg. The narrow body ofwater lends itself to vaporetto-style,low-capacity and high-frequency

water shuttles operating between Dekalb Avenue, the North Williamsburg

Ferry Pier, and Manhattan. The proposed improvements along the creek alsointroduce opportunities for economic development and job training programsfor residents of the affected areas.

The LIRR freight track between Fresh Pond Junction and the Bushwick Branchis an active ground-level freight track with existing electric infrastructure,makingit viable for passenger service. The track runs parallel to the L train inEast Brooklyn and extends north to the terminus of Newtown Creek, whichwould become a transfer site for riders to continue on to the proposedNewtown Creek water shuttle system.

Honorable Mention: No One ThingThaddeus Pawlowski, Senior Urban Designer, New York City Department ofCity Planning; Zac Frank, Product Director, Vanity Fair; Dani Simons,Director of Communications and External Affairs, Motivate, operator of CitiBike


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Summary: A proposal for six scalable options that would be cost -effective toimplement.

Submission: One solution alone will not address the challenges that will face aquarter-million MTA riders when the L train shuts down in early . A

combinationof technological, policy, and design interventions are needed tokeep things moving cost effectively. A multi-pronged strategy might include:) Shutting down automobile traffic across thstreet in Manhattan to allow fora bikeway/busway leading from the Williamsburg Bridge, as well as Bus Rapid

Transit from Brooklyn over the Williamsburg Bridge

) Piloting a ticket system that allows riders to pay a flat fare for access tocommuter rail, subway, express bus and bus in a given zone ) Improvements to thepublic realm at key transit hubs to facilitate transfersand increase the economic development potential for small businesses aroundthese hubs

) Expansion of capacity for Citi Bike and ferries, and consideration for subsidyor free transfers to encourage people to shift to these forms of transit, reducingcongestion on trains and buses) Overnight truck delivery regulations to reduce congestion and improve safetyon local streets in Brooklyn, on East River Bridges, and along th Street) A responsive,mobile website to help all New Yorkers navigate these changes

and choose the best option to keep moving. All of these interventions arerelatively inexpensive and quick to implement. A strategic combination willimprove quality of life and help small businesses during the shutdown andbeyond.


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Honorable Mention:I


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Finalist Proposals:

Infraflex

Team: Greg Reaves, Architect & Partner, Moshe Safdie Architects; StevenHaardt, Architect, Principal at Haardt Studio; Petra Kempf, Architect & UrbanDesigner, Urbantransits.Net; Ziyan Zeng, Planner & Programer,Urbantransits.Net

Submission: InfraFlex is a mobile app thatconnects existing and proposed modes oftransportation with current data-collectiontechnology. This application will provideresidents affected by the shutdown with real-time travel information to make smart choices

when using different modes of transportation in

Manhattan and Brooklyn without addingcarbon emissions to the environment.

Each resident will automatically collect gamepoints towards the cost of their trip via the app.

The more environmentally friendly theirchoices, the more points they (and ultimately,their neighbrohood) can accumulate. Rewardscould range from free admissions to museums, a

year-long pass to public transportation in NYC to the implementation of newneighborhood facilities.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Team: Gonzalo Cruz, Landscape Architect, Lead, AECOM; Xiaofei Shen,Engineer, AECOM; Garrett Avery, Landscape Architect, AECOM; RayanaHossain, Landscape Architecture Intern, AECOM


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Submission: We propose a transporter tunnel for New Yorkers as a temporarysolution to alleviate mobility between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Using

technology developed by NASA, the project would create an alternative routevia a covered translucent tunnel immersed within the East River with digitally -enhanced environments for commuters as they make their journey across theriver. The ,-foot tunnel will allow pedestrians and bikers to navigate afantastical throughway all year round. On the ground, commuters will travel ina fast cart people-mover commuter system along the shutdown path along thStreet (Manhattan) and North th Street (Brooklyn) to provide a connection toTHE L TRANSPORTER entrances located on the river edges.

The system could be accommodated within the existing tunnel, eitherunderwater or as a floating and partially submerged tunnel along the river toaccommodate other forms of river navigation. The project would be temporary,

could be prefabricated offsite within months, and easily deployable.

Project Lemonade

Team: Jaime Daroca, Columbia University C-Lab; Nicolas Lee, HollwichKushner; Daniela Leon, Harvard GSD; John Tubles, Pei Cobb Freed Architects

Submission: In , New

York becomes what it reallyis... an island. Enter

Lemonade Line (LL), a

multimodal transportation

strategy that provides an all-

access pass to seamlesslylinked buses, bikes, car-

shares, and ferry linesfollowing the L line aboveground.

In addition to replacing the L subway route, LL will help users to identifyalternative paths that explore Brooklyn, the East River shorelines andManhattan neighborhoods. LL is supported by large and small-scale New Yorkpartnerships. LL utilizes an all-in-one app, which facilitates and evolves thisnetwork, based on real-time data throughout the closure. Imagine island lifeincluded in your daily commute, making life a bit sweeter.

About the L Train Shutdown Charrette

Part of the Van Alen Spring Festival, Disruption?, the L Train ShutdownCharrette invited teams to disrupt the complex process of publictransportation improvement. This one-day charrette offered an opportunity for


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fresh thinking, and asked interdisciplinary teams to imagine systemic designsolutions for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers during an extended periodof reduced subway service.

Following a workshop period among teams, community members were invitedto attend the presentation of proposals and ask questions. A jury of planningexperts judged the entries and announced a winner at the conclusion of theevent. The winning team shared a ,prize.

The L Train Shutdown Charrette is presented as part of the Van Alen SpringFestival, Disruption?,

June , which considers the meaning of disruptionwithin and beyond technologyand how disruptions take form in builtenvironments, local communities, and municipal policies. Learn more andregister for events on vanalen.org.

About Van Alen Institute

At Van Alen Institute, we believe design can transform cities, landscapes, andregions to improve peoples lives. We collaborate with communities, scholars,policymakers, and professionals on local and global initiatives that rigorouslyinvestigate the most pressing social, cultural, and ecological challenges oftomorrow. Building on more than a century of experience, we develop crossdisciplinary research, provocative public programs and inventive designcompetitions.

Visit vanalen.org to learn more about our current projects, including Ecologies ofAddiction, Fair Share,Memorials for the Future, Van Alen Sessionspresented withThe Atlanticand CityLab, and more.

Twitter: @van_alen

Instagram: @van_alenFacebook: /vanaleninstitute

Photo credit: Flickr User Dan Nguyen

fact sheet l train shutdown charrette

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