Recently, there has been much written about additional freight train traffic on the LIRR main line. Expanded freight operations in the Long Island Rail Road operating territory would significantly ease truck traffic on our roads. The NYS Department of Transportation, the LIRR, and the LITP2000 are fully committed to this concept. An Intermodal Freight Transportation Center of Pilgrim State in Central Islip on the LIRR Main Line is essential for proper goods distribution. Bridge clearance work to allow for freight train passage is slated to begin shortly. Additional LIRR infrastructure improvements are required to make the effort workable.

To get more than the current six freight trains from the Fresh Pond Freight Yard in Queens to Central Islip, a third railroad track must be installed and at-grade crossings eliminated on the main line from Floral Park to Westbury. Over 250 of the 735 LIRR commuter trains travel this route each day. The two tracks in this area cannot handle the current train volume. The addition of East Side Access, the JFK Train-To-The-Plane from Jamaica Station, the construction of a new Penn Station, the construction of a new LIRR Station in the growing Long Island City commercial district, increased reverse commuting, the delivery of over 350 new M-7 Electric Railroad Passenger Cars in 2002, the reactivation of the Calverton Rail Link to the main line, and the new proposal for a Route 110 Rail Hub, will cause a 30 percent increase in commuter trains on these two railroad tracks. Add the necessary increased freight train traffic, and the LIRR main line and the at-grade crossing roadways that cross over it will be gridlocked.

Money has already been allocated to complete the at-grade crossing elimination project in the Village of Mineola. In a September 17, 2001 memo to local officials, the NYS Department of Transportation indicated the LIRR will soon begin an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to consider adding a third railroad track on the main line and examine ways to eliminate the remaining at-grade crossings. This includes the New Hyde Park Road main line at-grade crossing in the Village of Garden City, and the South 12th Street and Covert Avenue main line at-grade crossings in the Village of New Hyde Park. More than 28,000 cars a day cross over these three at-grade crossings. Proper commuter and freight traffic flow, motor vehicle traffic flow, and pedestrian and commuter safety on the LIRR main line require a third railroad track and elimination of these at-grade crossings as soon as possible.

Edward Powers