Railroad Forums 

  • LIRR Mainline Third Track Project

  • Discussion of the past and present operations of the Long Island Rail Road.
Discussion of the past and present operations of the Long Island Rail Road.

Moderator: Liquidcamphor

 #1518566  by MACTRAXX
 
REM3Night wrote: Mon Aug 19, 2019 10:39 pm Eastbound platform - the west end new platform has been built, a temporary platform has also been built and stairs to it is being built. It also looks like they are starting to build the new overpass foundation.
Ray
Ray: You have to be more specific when you post about what station(s) that you are referring to...

First mention the station and then refer to the platforms by their letter designations which are Platform A
for the north platform and Platform B for the south platform when you are replying about the Main Line in
the construction zone between New Hyde Park and Westbury - all of these stations have two platforms.

On the Main Line between Floral Park and Hicksville the LIRR runs trains in both directions on both tracks
on any given weekday and trains can and do stop at either platform at stations in both directions.

MACTRAXX
 #1518568  by MattAmity90
 
I think he was talking about Carle Place. The following has taken place there:

1.) Temporary PLATFORM B has been constructed, installed and in service.
2.) Eastern half of PLATFORM B still in service.
3.) Western half of PLATFORM A in service (has been) with entrances at Cherry Lane with staircase, and ramp towards the middle.
4.) Eastern half of PLATFORM A having concrete slabs installed on top of piers.
5.) When it comes to an elevator foundation, I found a concrete foundation with the concrete grid rods. On the other side I could not find one.
6.) Construction of new PLATFORM B continues behind the temporary PLATFORM B platform.

Merillon Avenue on the other hand is seeing service provided by two 6-car length wooden temporary platforms that look like something you would find on the Babylon Branch in the late-1960's to early-1970's (except there are no canopies, no pedestrian overpass, and there is no concrete viaduct with columns next to one of them). Work on the Western half of the new PLATFORM B is commencing behind the temporary PLATFORM B, with piers being constructed for anticipation of the new 12-car platform.
Last edited by MattAmity90 on Thu Aug 29, 2019 11:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
 #1518572  by MACTRAXX
 
MA90: You should also use the letter designations when describing platforms for the same reasons that I
describe above because again weekday trains use both platforms in either direction during peak hours.
For that matter all LIRR stations with more than one physical platform are specified by letter.
MACTRAXX
 #1518766  by REM3Night
 
Ray: You have to be more specific when you post about what station(s) that you are referring to...

First mention the station and then refer to the platforms by their letter designations which are Platform A
for the north platform and Platform B for the south platform when you are replying about the Main Line in
the construction zone between New Hyde Park and Westbury - all of these stations have two platforms.

On the Main Line between Floral Park and Hicksville the LIRR runs trains in both directions on both tracks
on any given weekday and trains can and do stop at either platform at stations in both directions.

MACTRAXX
[/quote]

Sorry I thought I was adding to another post about Carle Place.
FRay
 #1518774  by MattAmity90
 
Head-end View wrote: Fri Aug 30, 2019 8:03 pm I checked out the Urban Ave. underpass in Westbury today. The roadway was paved this week and it looks almost ready to open. :-D
They are expecting in their timetable that Urban Avenue will be reopened to traffic in September, so how fitting than after Labor Day. As far as the rest of project, most likely it will be completed by my birthday. They have already constructed the retaining walls, pedestrian walkway, a staircase that will lead to a new Railroad Avenue. All the surroundings and small details will take a few more weeks. Really, the only major step is pouring the concrete on the concrete mesh grid and pave over that with fencing so that Railroad Avenue goes above Urban Avenue. This project did two things: Eliminated the grade crossing, and eliminated the intersection of Railroad and Urban. Started August 2018, completed September 2019.

At Covert Avenue, I'm expecting work and traffic to reopen there in November by Thanksgiving. Farmer's Almanac is stating a "Polar Coaster" but that with the demolition of the ACME building next to School Street, that project will start in either October or November 2019 and be completed by next Summer since the crews at Urban will move and begin immediately following Urban. New Hyde Park Road I expect to be completed by next Fall due to the width of the road, the temporary grade crossing, the magnitude of the box tunnel compared to others since NHP Road is the widest crossing that will be eliminated, and the surroundings taking shape.
 #1518816  by Head-end View
 
Right, New Hyde Park Rd. will be the most difficult of all these eliminations. Having to maintain traffic flow while building a four-lane underpass will be quite a headache for all involved. Let's keep looking forward to the finished product that will look a lot like Roslyn Rd. in Mineola.
 #1518823  by MattAmity90
 
Head-end View wrote: Sat Aug 31, 2019 7:37 pm Right, New Hyde Park Rd. will be the most difficult of all these eliminations. Having to maintain traffic flow while building a four-lane underpass will be quite a headache for all involved. Let's keep looking forward to the finished product that will look a lot like Roslyn Rd. in Mineola.
The only difference though between Roslyn Road and New Hyde Park is the layout. When Roslyn Road was eliminated, the road was no longer straight, it looked like a chicane where it went around. They used the original crossing to keep the road open, so it's reversed. The site of the new overpass for New Hyde Park Road will be right where the crossing is. I think the reason why it is reversed is that when the project at Roslyn Road in the mid-2000's started they didn't use the Box Tunnel method (which would require closing the road in the process), and that they had planned to expand the road from 2 to 4 lanes. I forgot to add that the temporary crossing and maintaining traffic on NHP Road was going to be a headache, the temporary crossing which will be located to the left of the current is only going to be 2 lanes.

Actually I on second thought I think Willis Avenue is going to be the most challenging when you look at the renderings. Instead of a Babylon-like elimination or box tunnel, it is going to be a LONG tunnel that goes underneath the soon to be 3 Main Line tracks and the 2 Oyster Bay Branch tracks with a spot of sunlight in the middle. That will probably take two phases, and a grade crossing will be still exist above the tunnel for the Oyster Bay Branch for employees.
 #1519097  by MattAmity90
 
Saw in some pictures of the new Nassau Boulevard bridge in the Merillon Avenue parking lot to the North. I guess this means that there will be a weekend outage this month. This is actually a shock to me because I didn't expect a bridge replacement in September or possibly the first weekend of October.

Although I've been too focused on the grade crossings, and the work being done for the platforms at Carle Place and Merillon Avenue.
 #1519140  by robertwa
 
I just saw the new bridge next to the Merillon Ave. parking lot. It didn't seem that long so I guess they're not going to increase the road from 2 lanes to 4 under the bridge. It seemed to me that this would be the perfect time to to that - or at least to 3 lanes since southbound Nassau Blvd. gets crowded there in the PM rush.
 #1519257  by Head-end View
 
Progress! **********The new Urban Ave. Underpass in Westbury opened to traffic today. This is the first completion of several crossing elimination projects now underway. There was a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a short caravan of MTA Police vehicles and two Westbury fire trucks were the first traffic to go thru. You can watch it on most of the news channels. :-D
 #1519280  by MattAmity90
 
Yes indeed, as stated above by Head-end View. Let it be known that at 10:00 AM EST on September 5th, 2019 that one milestone of this massive project was completed. A second milestone will be completed in about eh.....one to two months from now when Covert Avenue opens up (slated for November).

August 2018: Governor Cuomo breaks ground on the LIRR Expansion Project at Urban Avenue. For the next seven months, pile driving of beams and corrugated steel into the ground takes place during the Fall and Winter months.

March 8th, 2019: Urban Avenue closes for grade crossing elimination project that sees excavation through July 19th, to go along with the construction of a new trestle. Signals, gates, and signal hut are razed.

July 20th-21st, 2019: New trestle is pushed into place by using a process known as "box-jacking."

July 22nd-September 4th, 2019: Pedestrian sidewalk, staircase, and Railroad Avenue undergo construction and pavement. On the week of August 25th-31st, the street is paved.

September 5th, 2019: Urban Avenue reopens grade separated from both the tracks and Railroad Avenue. It is the first grade crossing eliminated since Roslyn Road in Mineola in Spring 2008. Surroundings will be cleaned, pressed, and trimmed for the next few weeks.
 #1519388  by MattAmity90
 
robertwa wrote: Wed Sep 04, 2019 12:39 pm I just saw the new bridge next to the Merillon Ave. parking lot. It didn't seem that long so I guess they're not going to increase the road from 2 lanes to 4 under the bridge. It seemed to me that this would be the perfect time to to that - or at least to 3 lanes since southbound Nassau Blvd. gets crowded there in the PM rush.
Just found out from aModernLI that the bridge is still undergoing construction. It only has one third of it complete/track width completed. The website also announced the other day that the LIRR will have a weekend outage from October 5th-6th to install the bridge.

If anyone can check out Urban Avenue, let me know if public traffic is indeed going underneath and using the road (people's cars, pickups, delivery trucks, etc.)
 #1519458  by Head-end View
 
Yes Urban Ave. is open to the public. I drove thru the underpass Friday morning. And it is narrow. One normal width lane in each direction. It's a little bizarre, how different the place looks from what was there before.
  • 1
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 84