MTA wanted the best, but created a new problem in New York
'05.02.2021'
Lyudmila Balabay
Snowfall in New York has finally stopped, but some city residents are worried about the new threat posed by protective nets installed under the elevated metro lines. Edition Gothamist described the problem in detail.
In 2020, the New York City Transportation Administration (MTA) spent $ 325 million installing safety nets under elevated subway lines. The nylon nets must catch debris falling off the track. But they have been surprisingly effective in trapping snow after a blizzard. Heavy accumulation of snow makes the nets heavier, which hang down and block traffic, posing a threat to pedestrians passing under them.
According to local resident Fiona Brady, under the track for train # 1 on the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, snow has resulted in "huge hanging bags that hang so low in some places that you can reach them."
"Under the weight of the snow, the nets buckle and completely cover some traffic lights, cling to passing trucks and buses, and even burst," Brady added.
MTA spokesman Tim Minton acknowledged the problem and said the agency had encountered snow-filled nets in Manhattan and Queens. At the same time, Minton insists that the networks do not pose a threat to pedestrians, since they are not located above the sidewalks. But many New Yorkers wait for the arrival of public transport by standing under these sagging networks.
Minton clarified that MTA is gradually removing snow from the nets that have sagged the most and promised that all nets will be cleared by the end of the working week. According to him, due to such sagging, some streets were blocked, but he refused to give a list of them.
The townspeople noted a certain irony that the MTA's plan to fix one problem - the collapse of parts of the elevated rail infrastructure - created an entirely new type of hazard.
“The MTA needed a quick solution. They didn't take into account that the nets would accumulate snow, ”said Trammell Thompson, a subway conductor and union activist. "Now they have to fix it before the snow turns to ice and crashes to the ground along with the nets."
