LIRR plans Mid-Suffolk Yard expansion

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
image description
LIRR

Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) opened the Mid-Suffolk Train Yard Information Center at Ronkonkoma Station so customers and community residents can learn about the LIRR's proposal for enlarging its train yard in Ronkonkoma.

 

The expanded train yard is key to improving mainline service by providing more peak-hour trains, better cleaning and maintenance for train cars and direct service to Grand Central Terminal as part of the East Side Access project. The project, currently budgeted at $76 million, would expand the existing train yard, located east of Ronkonkoma Station, to adjacent property already owned by the LIRR. The expansion would on property south of the yard and further away from the local residential neighborhood.

“Enlarging the electric train yard in Ronkonkoma will give us the space we need to deliver the mainline service improvements promised by East Side Access,” said LIRR President Patrick Nowakowski. “We hope customer and community residents attend the Open House to learn about the project.”

The Mid-Suffolk Yard plan, which would nearly double the LIRR’s track storage area, has the support of Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, as well as a union coalition representing thousands of local construction workers, the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

“The Long Island Rail Road has been a great partner with Suffolk County in advancing our economic development plan ‘Connect Long Island’ in which the goal is to reverse the decades-long trend of young people leaving our region,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. “We can’t create a prosperous future without being able to attract the high-knowledge, high-skilled workers necessary to build an information economy. In order to attract them, we need to create walkable downtown communities with strong public transit links. The LIRR has been investing in our downtowns and the expansion of the Mid-Suffolk Yard will create even greater opportunities for transit choices for Suffolk County residents and Long Islanders as a whole.”

The Mid-Suffolk Yard Expansion project is covered by a Project Labor Agreement announced by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2013 between the LIRR and local private-sector unions that was designed to reduce the railroad’s labor costs on seven major construction projects by nearly 11 percent, saving an estimated $6.5 million over the next five years while protecting local trade union jobs.

The existing train yard is a 12-track facility that is fully utilized. The expansion plan would almost double the number of storage tracks to 23 and relocate a number of LIRR departments to a new building further away from local residents. The new facility would enable the railroad to improve interior car cleaning and servicing and carry out mandatory Federal Railway Administration inspections.

The Mid-Suffolk Yard Information Center, located opposite the ticket office at Ronkonkoma Station, is part of the LIRR’s effort to reach out to customers and the community. LIRR will be completing an environmental assessment as part of New York State’s Environmental Quality Review Act, evaluating the environmental impact of the Mid-Suffolk Yard project. LIRR anticipates completing the environmental assessment by May 2015, coordinating the review with the Town of Islip, the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York State and the Federal Aviation Administration. Key areas to be evaluated include visual impacts, noise and vibration within the proposed Mid-Suffolk Yard site, traffic into and out of the yard site and any construction impacts.

That will be followed by a public comment period, anticipated for June, followed by an environmental determination in July.

 

Tags: