LIRR plans to move idling trains away from Patchogue homes following long-standing complaints

The Long Island Rail Road plans to extend tracks in Patchogue this weekend to move idling trains away from a neighborhood where homeowners had complained for years about noise, odors and temblor-like vibrations.

The 10-day project will move trains that are not in use from a residential area near South Ocean Avenue and Academy Street to a commercial section between Rider and Bay avenues, Metropolitan Transportation Agency officials said in documents detailing the plan.

Patchogue Village officials released the documents Wednesday to alert residents to anticipated traffic delays associated with the project. MTA officials confirmed the plans.

Train service will be suspended for two weekends on the Montauk Branch, from Babylon to Montauk, the MTA documents said, adding bus service will be available.

Patchogue residents have complained for more than a decade about trains idling several times each day, spewing exhaust fumes while their diesel engines continued running, as Newsday has previously reported. Some residents likened vibrations caused by the trains to earthquakes. 

“It’s the reverberations that come from the train [and] shake the house,” said Nicole Menchise, 51, who moved to Patchogue with her boyfriend about two years ago. She said their Academy Street house is 150 yards from the tracks. “You can actually feel the humming coming from inside the walls themselves.”

She said the MTA announcement was "very good news."

"I'm just relieved for our neighbors who are surely struggling with that noise," Menchise said Thursday. "It’s really a lot more than we realized when we were first looking to buy in this neighborhood.”

MTA spokesman David Steckel said in an email that work will begin Friday evening and continue through Oct. 16 to build the additional tracks, called siding, for idling trains. 

The work, much of which will occur overnight, also is expected to disrupt traffic at the Bay Avenue and Rider Avenue crossings, which will be closed this weekend and next weekend.

"The Long Island Rail Road is determined to always be a good neighbor, and building a new siding will relieve some of the noise and emissions from the diesel trains that operate on the branch," Steckel said.

Patchogue officials and local residents have said idling trains are especially annoying on weekends, when they sit for longer periods. MTA officials have said trains were left to idle — instead of having their engines shut off — because it would take hours to start them back up again.

Mayor Paul Pontieri said Wednesday three or four village residents would complain about the trains at least once a month, though the complaints have died down in recent years. He said residents may have given up the fight and “some of them may have left” because of the noise and fumes.

He said trains "would sit there for hours" before moving, adding the new location is near fuel and drainage companies.

"It's all business and industrial," Pontieri said. "If you’re going to put it someplace, it’s the perfect place to put it.”

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.