Cross Island Parkway to close Sunday for LIRR work near UBS Arena

The Cross Island Parkway will be closed for parts of the day Sunday as the MTA works to secure the Long Island Rail Road's new station in Elmont before the puck drops at the Islanders' new arena next month.

Eastbound train service from the station is set to begin for the Islanders' first home game at the new UBS Arena on Nov. 20. Track work at the station for westbound trains is expected to be completed by the end of next year.

On Sunday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to use a crane on the parkway to lift steel girders over the highway near Hempstead Avenue as part of this effort.

Southbound lanes on the Cross Island Parkway will close between the Southern State and Northern State/Grand Central parkways from midnight to 6 p.m. Sunday and the northbound lanes will close from 3 a.m. to 9 a.m., MTA officials said.

Meanwhile, the MTA also plans to suspend train service between Hicksville and Jamaica for the next two weekends due to switch work as part of the Main Line Expansion Project.

The work will require disrupting the Main Line for 48 hours for the next two weekends between New Hyde Park and Hicksville, leading to changes on the Oyster Bay, Port Jefferson and Ronkonkoma branches. Switch work will also disrupt both lines at Queens Village.

There will be no train service to New Hyde Park, Merillon Avenue, Mineola, Carle Place or Westbury. All service from the Bethpage station will be by shuttle train between Babylon and Hicksville.

Commuters on the Huntington, Port Jefferson and Ronkonkoma lines are urged to add at least an extra hour for track changes. Westbound train service at Hicksville will transfer commuters to diesel shuttles, stopping at Bethpage and Babylon, where electric train service resumes. The process will reverse heading east and stopping at Babylon.

"The success of the LIRR is vital to Long Island’s economy and quality of life and the new Elmont station will provide a reliable mass transportation option for those traveling to and from the new UBS Arena to root on our NY Islanders, and in the future see a show or shop. This station, in conjunction with Main Line Expansion, will definitively boost the region’s connectivity and economy to a new level," LIRR President Phil Eng said in a statement.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.