MTA announces that three R train stations are closing for six months—with only five days notice

The R train is back at it again.

On Monday, March 27, Sunset Park's 53rd Street subway station will close for six months in the first phase of a wider project to modernize stops along the R train line. Closures will follow at the Bay Ridge Avenue station on April 29 and the Prospect Avenue station on June 5, both for six months as well.

The renovations will be top-to-bottom "from the entrances to the turnstile areas to the mezzanines and platforms," according to a press release from the MTA. The three stations that are being renovated originally opened in 1915, and have fallen into a state of shabbiness over the years. 

The cost of construction across the three stops is $72 million, which includes new handrails, stair treads, wall tiles, digital screens for arrival information, granite flooring, station art, Wi-Fi, electronic charging stations and a medley of other updates that will bring the stations into the 21st century. The three stations in Brooklyn will be the first of 30-plus stops that will be redesigned an extensively renovated in the coming years. 

But even though the updates will bring new amenities to riders in the area, the MTA is facing a good deal of backlash on the project. The authority announced the closure dates on Wednesday—just five days before construction the 53rd Street station is set to begin. Beyond the short notice, the MTA's press release was only available in English, and signs posted at the 53rd Street station were only available in English, according to DNAinfo. 

Commuters who will be affected by the closure are being encouraged to use nearby subway stations and the B37 and B63 bus routes, which run along Third and Fifth Avenues parallel to the R line in the area. 

The next group of stations that will be closed and renovated as a part of the MTA's larger initiative will be the Broadway, 30th Avenue, 36th Avenue and 39th Avenue stations along the Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard line in Queens. No timeline has been released for work on those stops, but hopefully riders will be given more than five days notice when construction is set to begin.