On Feb. 26, an MTA Long Island Rail Road Service Alert was posted at www.mta.info. It was a Service Alert to the Ronkonkoma, Port Jefferson and Oyster Bay line customers. The alert stated that, "LIRR service is operating with scattered 10 to 15 minute delays on the Mainline because of signal problems." What type of "signal" problems were they?

The "signal" problems were problems with the crossing gates at the New Hyde Park Road and Covert Avenue at-grade railroad crossings. The gates at both crossings malfunctioned in the middle of the morning rush hour resulting in pedestrian and automobile traffic chaos in New Hyde Park. This is not an isolated crossing gate malfunction incident at these crossings in New Hyde Park. I know because I've seen it firsthand as I pull out of my driveway and turn south and try to cross the Mainline tracks on my way to work.

In the recent past, crossing gates have malfunctioned at all three at-grade crossings in the Village of New Hyde Park resulting in similar chaos. Service Alerts have been issued for similar crossing gate malfunction incidents. These Service Alerts are somewhat vague as to what the exact problem is. Service Alerts should be issued to a wider audience than LIRR customers with an eye toward safety first and safety always. Especially when the same "signal" problem reoccurs more often than we, who live and work in the Village of New Hyde Park and traverse these at-grade crossings, would care to tolerate.

Edward W. Powers

New Hyde Park