The Hicksville Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) station is getting ready for a facelift.
The MTA is preparing to make some major improvements to the 54-year-old station including making it more aesthetically pleasing, cleaner and environmentally friendly.
The Hicksville Downtown Revitalization Committee, along with the help of Vision Long Island and the Hicksville Chamber of Commerce organized a meeting on Feb. 17 at the Hicksville Community Center where MTA officials discussed the train station remodel.
The changes will give the station a more “open and airy feel,” said Al Guerra, Director with Program Management for the MTA, who is overseeing the station upgrades.
One of the most noticeable changes to the station will be a new translucent canopy over the platforms, which will allow natural light to filter in; a look more pleasing to the eye than the dark cement roof currently in place.
The current structure of the platforms, including the cement pillars, will remain in place, but will be repainted. The MTA will also be redoing the platforms with new cement.
The station will be outfitted with new LED lighting, new aluminum stairways with ADA handrails, two elevators outside the ticket office and wider escalators, which have a sleep mode to conserve energy. They will also be putting in a security CCTV system, which will be monitored at their central security station in Jamaica, Queens. Those waiting for their train on the platform level can enjoy the new motion-activated heated waiting rooms with aluminum standfront enclosures. The waiting rooms will have a more open feel, with large glass windows on all four sides.
In addition to the station renovations, which are estimated to cost $68 million, the MTA will also be spending $52 million on a north track siding project at Hicksville, which will build a pocket track to store trains. The north track siding project is part of the MTA’s larger east side access readiness project, which is preparing several stations to provide service to Grand Central Station
“When the railroad is ready to service Grand Central station, we’ll have to run more trains,” said an LIRR spokesperson. “We’re building pocket tracks in various locations so we have a place to put the trains. The pocket track helps us put a train into service faster instead of having to wait for it to come from the yard in Ronkonkoma.”
The pocket track, which will be built on the northwest side of the station on existing MTA property, will serve as temporary storage for one to two trains.
The MTA is looking to start work by the end of this year and expects the project to be done in four years. Guerra noted that one of the biggest challenges the MTA faced was how to do construction without disrupting the 22,000 commuter trips that happen each weekday at the Hicksville station. To prevent any service changes or interruptions, work will be done on nights and weekends.
“We want to preserve operations and minimize disruptions,” said Guerra.
Residents at the meeting said parking at the station in general was a major concern. The Hicksville station is the busiest one in the county, and for years residents have decried the lack of parking there.
“You want to have trains to Penn Station and Grand Central. With that increase in traffic, where will we park? All of this beautification is not helping the residents if there is no parking,” said one resident at the meeting.
While train station parking falls under the Town of Oyster Bay’s control, the MTA agreed it was a major challenge.
“The only way you can go is up and a lot of people don’t want to do that,” said a MTA representative at the meeting. “You have to find creative ways to address parking and get people to the station, whether it’s with enhanced walking paths or shuttles.”
The last time improvements were done to the Hicksville train station were in 2010 when the plaza-level waiting room was updated. But no major upgrades have been done to the station since it was built in 1961. Local residents said they were happy that the train station was getting a much-needed facelift.
“I think it’s very good. I’m glad something’s being done,” said resident Gail Chickory. “Anything is an improvement.”
Lionel Chitty, President of the Hicksville Chamber of Commerce, said that he’s hoping the train station upgrade will help jumpstart the revitalization of the downtown.
“This shows the area does deserve to be revitalized,” Chitty said. “The MTA is doing their portion and we’re on the track so we can do our portion.”
