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Manhattan Residents Can Sound Off on L Train Shutdown on Thursday

 Manhattanites have a chance to sound off on the L train closure at a meeting on Thursday at the Salvation Army Theatre at 120 W. 14th St.
Manhattanites have a chance to sound off on the L train closure at a meeting on Thursday at the Salvation Army Theatre at 120 W. 14th St.
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DNAinfo/Lili Holzer-Glier

CHELSEA — Manhattan residents worried about the impending L Train shutdown will have the chance to speak with officials at a public meeting on Thursday.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is hosting the second of two community meetings to discuss the effects of reconstruction work to the L Train’s Canarsie Tubes, which could shut parts of the line down for more than a year.

The meeting will include a presentation on the latest information followed by a question-and-answer period. It's scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Salvation Army Theatre at 120 W. 14th St.

The MTA has said the shutdown of the Canarsie Tubes is necessary to repair damage caused when floodwaters from Hurricane Sandy poured into the tunnels.

The agency confirmed at a Brooklyn meeting last week that it is looking at two options: closing the East River tubes entirely for 18 months, or running a shuttle between First and Bedford avenues and working on the tubes one at a time, which would take up to three years.

The second option may sound somewhat more palatable, but the shuttle service would only be able to serve one in five of the L train’s daily 220,000 riders, according to the agency.

Even for those Manhattanites who don’t regularly travel to Brooklyn and back, the shutdown could be a major headache, with the possibility on the table that all 14th Street L train stops in Manhattan will shutter while the work is going on.

The MTA has said it plans to secure contracts for the work by the end of this year in order to get work started by 2019.