Fred Thiele, assemblyman, appeals to Gov. Andrew Cuomo to add LIRR track

A Long Island assemblyman is renewing a call for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and lawmakers to allocate money for another Long Island Rail Road track from Sayville to Montauk to deal with demand and reduce summer traffic.

“It was decided long ago that new East End highways are not feasible,” Assemb. Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor) said in a statement. “The answer lies with underutilized rail lines that could expand public transit. A second track from Sayville to Montauk would be a key part of the solution. Such a track certainly would provide the additional service necessary to get tourists and second homeowners out of their cars and onto the train to reach the East End.”

Thiele, who made the same appeal last year, said the additional track would “also make regular shuttle trains possible from Patchogue to Montauk on the South Fork.”

Cuomo, a Democrat, proposed a $154.5 billion state budget last month. He also proposed $100 billion worth of infrastructure projects (although state funding would provide just a small part of the allocations needed). The governor and state lawmakers are supposed to adopt a state budget by April 1, the start of New York’s 2016-17 fiscal year.