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‘Hurst to first: Station rehabs are back on track

Subways repairs to the dilapidated D and M lines are back on track, thanks to $242 million in federal stimulus money that will be routed towards the decrepit stations.

The cash from Washington’s so-called “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” will go towards improving 13 stations and lines in Sunset Park, Borough Park, Bensonhurst, and Gravesend — reinvigorating a renovation project that was nixed from the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s to-do list last June.

The Obama bucks will go towards much-needed repairs on every station on the West End line between Ninth Avenue and Bay 50th Street, according to rookie Rep. Mike McMahon (D-Bay Ridge).

“Lack of investment from the federal government has meant that much-needed maintenance and rehabilitation has taken a backseat,” said McMahon, a member of the House’s Transportation Committee.

The federal money will ensure that the renovations — which will include wheelchair accessibility, station painting and platform, stair, and track repairs, among other “shovel-ready” rehabilitations — will be running express.

“This is an opportunity to move some projects higher in the process,” said Lisa Daglian, a spokeswoman for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council, a regional organization that represents the MTA for transit projects funded by stimulus money.

“They’ve got a much better chance of coming to the forefront now,” she noted.

But the monies from Washington doesn’t mean that everything is running smoothly for the cash-strapped agency. In addition to a coming fare hike, the MTA is still planning service cuts that would hack Brooklyn to bits.