New Pedestrian Bridge Installed Nov. 5 In Port Washington

Railroad Expects South Bayles Ave. Span to Reopen by Tuesday

The installation of a new section of pedestrian overpass at the east end of the Long Island Rail Road’s Port Washington Station will get underway this Friday night, Nov. 4, with the bridge expected to reopen to the public on Tuesday, Nov. 8, MTA Long Island Rail Road President Patrick A. Nowakowski announced today.

“I want to thank the Town of North Hempstead, Supervisor Judy Bosworth and her staff and members of the Town Council for their imput and support throughout the planning of this project,” President Nowakowski said. “The closing of the bridge was a necessary safety measure, but we realize it has been an inconvenience for some customers and appreciate their patience. Once we determined that the old section could not be shored up, we knew the fastest way to replace it was to order a pre-fabricated structure that we could install in a couple of days and there will be no impact on train service.”

The LIRR is replacing the half of the bridge leading to the South Bayles Avenue parking lot. That part of the span was closed on June 29 after LIRR engineers found it unsafe for further pedestrian use. It was demolished overnight Friday, September 9, into Saturday, September 10. The opposite end of the bridge leading to the Haven Avenue parking lot was replaced in October 2014.
In order to accommodate the crane and other equipment required to accomplish this work, part of the South Bayles Avenue parking lot will be closed for 24 hours, from 8 p.m. Friday night, Nov. 4, through 8 p.m. Saturday night, Nov. 5. This will also ensure customer safety and prevent damages to private vehicles. The overnight installation will require the use of lighting and there will be some installation-related noise as the LIRR assembles the parts of the pre-fabricated structure due on site later this week. The parking lot will be reopened by Sunday morning and the bridge in time for Tuesday morning’s commute.