As part of its Ellison Avenue Bridge Replacement project, the MTA Long Island Rail Road is advising railroad customers that there will be no train service on the mainline between Mineola and Hicksville on May 16 and 17.
Buses will replace most trains between Hicksville and Mineola this weekend. They will operate from the MTA’s Intermodal center on the south side of Station Plaza and through Station Plaza North for westbound travelers. Mineola residents may experience increased traffic at Station Plaza North on Saturday and Sunday.
This $17.5 million project includes the replacement of the bridge, roadway, sidewalks, curbs and fencing at the Ellison Avenue vehicle overpass in Westbury. These investments will provide long-term bridge and train safety.
The Ellison Avenue Bridge was closed to vehicular traffic on April 15 and construction is already underway. Even though the bridge spans a very busy segment of the LIRR’s main line inWestbury, the majority of the work is invisible to LIRR customers, with little or no impact on train service. However, for safety reasons, demolition of the bridge will require a complete suspension of train service through the work zone for 48 hours. As a result, on the weekend of May 16-17, there will be no train service on the main line between Mineola and Hicksville. The LIRR expects that regular service will be restored in time for the Monday morning commute.
To avoid delays, customers will be advised to use alternate branches this weekend. Customers should refer to the special May 16-17 Port Jefferson/Ronkonkoma branch timetable, as well as revised weekend timetables for all other branches.
In addition, the LIRR will take advantage of the 48-hour train service suspension to perform other critical work in the vicinity during the outage. This additional work will include switch improvements in Hicksville, drainage work between Carle Place and Hicksville and replacement of the School Street crossing in Westbury. To accommodate the grade crossing improvement work, vehicular traffic will be diverted from School Street to Urban Avenue and Post Avenue for the entire weekend.
