Buses will replace train service for Long Island Rail Road customers traveling between Long Beach and Valley Stream, N.Y., the weekend of March 6-7 as work continues on the construction of two new railroad bridges over Powell Creek and Hog Island Channel. The shutdown of train service on this upcoming weekend was added to the LIRR's original construction schedule because recent snowstorms have impeded work on previous weekends. The railroad's goal is to complete the installation of both bridges before Memorial Day.

The $24.5-million project, which is funded through the MTA Capital Budget and federal grants, will also require train outages on four other weekends later this year - March 20-21, March 27-28, May 1-2 and May 15-16.

Both the Powell Creek Bridge (located between the LIRR's East Rockaway and Oceanside stations) and the Hog Island Channel Bridge (located between Oceanside and Island Park) were built in the 1920s, and have served the LIRR well for nearly 90 years. These two bridges are being replaced as part of the railroad's ongoing efforts to modernize its infrastructure and ensure safe and reliable service for our customers and neighbors for decades to come.

The existing Powell Creek and Hog Island Bridges are open-deck wooden and steel structures supported by wooden piles through which water is visible below. These structures will be removed and replaced with pre-cast concrete structures, supported by reinforced concrete-filled, steel pipe piles, which will provide safer, closed-deck concrete roadbeds.