Time for Hicksville LIRR station overhaul reduced by MTA
The MTA has finalized a $57 million deal that it says will shave more than a year off its planned overhaul of its busiest LIRR station on Long Island — Hicksville.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board on Wednesday unanimously approved the $56.7 million contract with the joint venture of Railroad Construction Company/Citnalta to rehabilitate the 55-year-old station.
The work will include installing new platforms, canopy roofs, drainage systems, platform waiting rooms, staircases, escalators, lighting and signs. The work is part of a larger $120 million effort at the station that will include the construction of more than 3,000 feet of new track to connect to a nearby train storage area.
Although initially slated to take nearly three years, the LIRR said, by giving taking one track and platform out of service for most of the summer of 2017, it expects to be able to finish the work in 22 months.
“Hicksville station is the LIRR’s third busiest station — topped only by Penn and Jamaica — and it’s a key transfer point for customers on the Port Jefferson and Ronkonkoma branches,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said in a statement. “To have such an important transportation hub encumbered by construction for three years was out of the question.’’
Work on the project is expected to begin in July.
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.
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Rain, strong winds eye LI ... Not guilty plea in Gilgo Beach murder ... Woman sentenced in brothel case ... Let's Go: Holidays in Manorville
