LIRR: Avoid Ronkonkoma, Port Jefferson branches this weekend
LIRR and MTA crews remove the Cherry Lane bridge on Saturday in Carle Place.
Long Island Rail Road customers are “strongly urged” to avoid the Ronkonkoma and Port Jefferson branches this weekend while the LIRR replaces a 66-year-old bridge.
Crews are taking down the existing rail bridge carrying the LIRR’s tracks over Cherry Lane in Carle Place and replacing it with a newly assembled one. The work requires suspending service on the LIRR’s Main Line between Mineola and Hicksville during the 48-hour period.
Riders are urged to use the Babylon, Hempstead or Montauk branches on Saturday and Sunday as an alternative.
The bridge project is part of the LIRR’s $2.6 billion effort to construct a third track on its Main Line between Floral Park and Hicksville. The new bridge will be wider to support the new track, and it also will be elevated by 14 inches to reduce the potential for truck strikes. The new height of the bridge will be 14 feet.
During the service suspension, the LIRR will close its Westbury and Carle Place stations and add express trains on the Babylon line. Some trains on other lines also will have their schedules adjusted during the work.
More information and special timetables will be available at mta.info, mylirr.org and through the MTA’s and LIRR’s mobile apps.
The Cherry Lane project is one of several planned and recently completed bridge replacements throughout the LIRR system. The railroad replaced the 107-year-old Post Avenue Bridge in Westbury in 2017 and the Buckham Road Bridge in Locust Valley in October. The railroad expects to replace the Glen Cove Road Bridge in Carle Place this fall.
The LIRR is replacing the 66-year-old Cherry Lane Bridge in Carle Place.
Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.
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