Letters: Third track would ease Long Island traffic
An LIRR conductor checks out his train while stopped at Jamaica station July 8, 2014. Credit: Newsday / J. Conrad Williams Jr.
I’m always amazed at the opposition to bringing the busiest commuter rail line in the country into the 21st century by building a third track between Floral Park and Hicksville.
As a letter writer aptly pointed out, this project would increase the number of passenger and freight trains [“Third track would increase traffic,” Letters, Oct. 27]. Exactly the point! It would get cars and 16-wheelers off of our ridiculously congested roads.
The next time you pass a truck on the Long Island Expressway, see what type of hazardous cargo placards you can spot. I would rather have the hazmat carrier on a few relatively safe rail cars, and I live a stone’s throw from the Main Line in Mineola.
I would be happy to deal with a few years of construction inconvenience, and a few more trains speeding by, if they contribute to a better economy on Long Island for our children and less traffic on the road.
Andrew J. Garger, Mineola
