Subway changes at Fulton

Straphangers who tried to navigate the Fulton St. subway station last weekend found trains missing, stairways closed and transfer passages covered in plywood boards — and many of those changes will return this weekend.

The construction is part of the new Fulton Transit Center, which is supposed to open in 2014. The work last weekend and this weekend is to remove a ramp and two staircases that connect to the A/C mezzanine. A new ramp connecting the A/C to uptown 4/5 trains is scheduled to open on Mon., Jan. 18. At that point, some of the staircases from the A/C platform will lead to specific transfers and exits, rather than to all of the nine lines that run through the station.

This weekend, there will be no 4/5 service at Fulton St., but a J shuttle train will replace the 4, running from Essex St. in Manhattan to Prospect Park. Additional information is available on mta.info.

Last weekend’s service changes required passengers to exit the station to make some transfers, which could happen in the future as the work progresses. An extra seven New York City Transit staff people were posted in the station last weekend to direct passengers, said Deirdre Parker, spokesperson for N.Y.C.T.

The station sees about 200,000 people on weekdays, 75,000 on Saturdays and 55,000 on Sundays, Parker said.

Catherine McVay Hughes, vice chairperson of Community Board 1, said the weekend service changes made it particularly difficult to take the trains at night.

“It is definitely short-term pain for a really needed long-term gain,” Hughes said.

— Julie Shapiro