As the former president of New York City Transit — a part of the M.T.A. responsible for the city’s buses and subways — and someone who witnessed firsthand the level of destruction and its impact on subway infrastructure as a result of Superstorm Sandy, I am concerned that the decision to change course on the Canarsie Tunnel project is premature and uninformed. This new plan has not been fully evaluated in terms of costs, available M.T.A. resources and, most important, safety.

Nor am I aware that the technology recommended to repair the benchwall has ever been used in an under-river environment. As president of New York City Transit, I would have found this new course of action completely unacceptable.

It is totally understandable that for those living in the communities affected, this news is wildly popular, as it will allow for trains to run through the tunnel during construction. However, since transit engineers were not consulted as part of this new plan, the lack of in-depth knowledge of what’s at stake leaves me concerned for the future safety and reliability of this under-river tunnel.

The decision to reconstruct the tunnel after the storm was not made lightly. Transit leadership and the M.T.A. board knew the effects on the community would be extraordinarily difficult. We looked at every possibility before deciding to shut down the entire tube. We modeled numerous operation and construction scenarios short of a total shutdown, but all had significant safety and operational concerns and fell well short of a long-term fix.

Believe me, transit decision makers would have seized on a viable solution that would have accomplished the task and still allowed for adequate and safe train service — but that solution did not materialize. While a total shutdown is painful to the community and businesses alike, the pain was measured in months rather than years, and safety and the long-term viability of the tunnel were at the center of that decision.