MTA's solution to years of complaints about Lynbrook LIRR station is $17.9M in upgrades
Long Island Rail Road officials this week unveiled nearly $18 million in improvements at the 80-year-old station in Lynbrook.
Following years of complaints by commuters and elected officials, the LIRR in 2018 embarked on the $17.9 million renovation of station, which — before the coronavirus pandemic — was used by about 5,000 customers daily.
The upgrades include two rebuilt island platforms, new platform canopies, LED lighting, drainage improvements, new security cameras and new glass-enclosed platform level waiting rooms with USB charging stations.
"These renovations are not only aesthetically pleasing, they provide a much-needed hardening of the infrastructure here," LIRR president Phillip Eng said Wednesday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the station. "It’s about improving the quality of life in the heart of this community, and the customers’ experience."
Although not originally included among the many stations in line for upgrades as part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Capital Program, the railroad took on the project after fielding numerous complaints about the condition of the station, where crumbling concrete platforms were shored up by wooden beams.
"This station was in such terrible, terrible shape. And it’s been a long battle for us," said Lynbrook Mayor Alan Beach, who praised the upgrades. "It makes us very proud here in Lynbrook to have this done."
Other infrastructure improvements are underway at the station, including to the elevated concrete viaduct on which it is built. That work is expected to be finished by the summer of 2021.
Commuters and local officials had complained for years about the crumbling infrastructure at the LIRR station in Lynbrook before renovations began in 2018. Credit: Newsday / Alfonso Castillo
Eng noted that, had the project not been tackled when it was, it could have been years before Lynbrook saw improvements. Many projects in the MTA’s Capital Program are on hold, as the agency struggles to fill a budget gap caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that is expected to reach $10 billion next year.
Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.
Updated now Newsday travel writer Scott Vogel took the ferry over to Block Island for a weekend of fun.
Updated now Newsday travel writer Scott Vogel took the ferry over to Block Island for a weekend of fun.
