Long Island roads clear, wet; trains, buses back moving, officials say

Long Island’s transportation system was moving again Tuesday, after being dealt a crippling blow by a nor’easter that brought up to 15 inches of snow to some parts of the region.

All major Nassau and Suffolk roads were passable Tuesday evening, county representatives said, and the Long Island Rail Road was set to resume normal weekday service beginning at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

The LIRR was back running Tuesday morning, on a weekend schedule, following a 13-hour shutdown. Nassau and Suffolk county bus systems and aboveground subway lines in New York City, which were suspended Monday, also returned Tuesday morning.

Long Island’s roads were wet, with traffic moving briskly and crashes still littering the region. All lanes appeared plowed on the Long Island Expressway and the Northern and Southern State parkways, traffic cameras showed. Traffic appeared to be lighter than normal, with the lingering precipitation making for slick roadways.

"A situation like yesterday — people can die," Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said at a news conference Tuesday, where he was joined by Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Port Authority leaders. "It can be very dangerous, very quickly. So it was handled well across the board. Roads are open. Trains are running today."

Nassau police responded to 20 car crashes early Tuesday, with most occurring during the rush hour, the department said. That was down from the nearly 120 crashes the department tallied Monday. Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said the county dealt with about 160 total accidents during the snowstorm, with no major injuries.

Suffolk police recorded 12 crashes early Tuesday, the department said. The day prior, the number also was around 120.

MTA chairman Patrick Foye said the decision to suspend aboveground rail service on Monday, including throughout the LIRR, "was clearly the right one," given that the agency was able to avoid incidents of trains becoming stranded in the storm with passengers onboard.

"All things considered … everything went well. We had been planning for this particular storm for a number of days, and, in some ways, for years," Foye said.

The LIRR dispatched about 2,000 workers to clear snow, including many who continued doing so throughout Tuesday.

At the Hicksville train station Tuesday morning, commuters boarded trains heading for the city. "There's not that much snow," said Joe O'Connell, of Hicksville. "I've seen much worse."

Air travel in the region slowly resumed after all but shutting down Monday. Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said Tuesday that Port Authority airports, including Kennedy and LaGuardia, were operating again, although airlines had canceled nearly half of their scheduled flights for the day. Both JFK and LaGuardia had suspended operations Monday.

Commercial flights at Long Island MacArthur Airport were slated to resume late Tuesday afternoon, airport Commissioner Shelley LaRose-Arken said.

The Nassau Inter-County Express, or NICE, and Suffolk County Transit resumed bus service Tuesday, but with some detours caused by impassible streets and slippery roads. NICE said it expects to resume normal service Wednesday morning.