The Herricks Road Crossing has been labeled by the National Transportation Safety Board as the most hazardous crossing in the entire United States. This week marks the elimination of this dangerous crossing that has concerned Garden City and Mineola residents for years.

"This certainly is a milestone," said Bruce Ogurek, civil engineer for the New York State Department of Transportation.

The elimination of the Herricks Road grade crossing comes 40 years after the first time a formal request was made for its elimination. On March 21, 1958 the Village of Mineola Board of Trustees petitioned the public service commission to eliminate all the grade crossings in Mineola.

Long Island Rail Road service was stopped during the last of the construction and the section of the tracks that ran across Herricks Road was cut out and replaced with a paved surface for vehicular traffic. The trains will now utilize the newly constructed bridge.

The low clearance, that had been instituted when construction began, has been eliminated. A 14 foot clearance is now restored and all truck traffic, that had for the past few weeks been detoured, can once again use Herricks Road. The construction work will continue to install the third track.

According to Ogurek, by the end of the project, Herricks Road will be reconfigurated and made more gentle through the creation of a less sharp turn and the installation of landscaping.

Meanwhile, as Garden City residents travel down Franklin Avenue into Mineola, where it becomes Mineola Boulevard, they will notice that the pile driving on the Mineola Boulevard Bridge Project is complete.

The current Mineola Boulevard Bridge is a temporary bridge that was constructed in the early '80s and is being replaced with a new bridge, in a one year project, to ensure the safety of commuters.

As of now all the utilities have been relocated, so the completion of the pile driving indicates the first completed step in the actual construction of the new Mineola Boulevard Bridge.

During this phase of the construction, long sections of steel in the shape of the letter "I," or piles, are held in place and driven into the ground by a large hammer that is repeatedly dropped from above.

Once the piles are installed concrete caps will be constructed on top of them, and once completed the bridge will then rest on top of those caps.

Ogurek said there will be some minor vibrations as a result of the pile driving and there will be a loud "boom" every time the hammer hits a pile, but traffic will continue and there will be no interruption to Long Island Rail Road service.

With the milestones reached in each of these projects, the concerned citizenry of Mineola and the surrounding areas, are given a renewed hope that the elimination of the dangerous grade crossings is a goal within their grasp.