Port Washington, NY - July 25th, 2014 -  MTA Long Island Rail Road announced today that the removal of the Port Washington Station’s closed Haven Avenue pedestrian overpass – shuttered in April for safety reasons –  will require the temporary closure of the Haven Ave. commuter parking lot for 48 hours during  the weekend of Saturday, August 2 and Sunday, August 3.

The parking lot closure is necessary due to the size of the pedestrian bridge being removed and the equipment required to accomplish the task. The work will begin at midnight Friday and be completed well before the Monday morning rush. Train service is not scheduled to be impacted during the work.

The LIRR will be notifying local residents and commuters of the upcoming work via flyers, posters, ads, social media and through the media. LIRR staff have also been briefing Town of North Hempstead officials about the progress of the project.

The Haven Ave. overpass was closed for safety reasons in April and its removal will be followed by the  extension of the remaining pedestrian bridge on the east side of the station to provide access to all platforms. The temporary structure will be built with modular, pre-fabricated materials and is expected to be fully installed and open in September.

As for a long-term remedy, the LIRR is continuing to talk to Town of North Hempstead and community leaders about a plan that would extend two tracks at the Port Washington station and replace the pedestrian bridges as part of a larger project that would improve LIRR service for Port Washington while updating the station and getting it ready for the opening of East Side Access.

Once East Side Access is complete, the LIRR plans to give Port Washington commuters a choice of services, with direct trains to Grand Central Terminal, as well as continuing direct service to Penn Station. To do that, the LIRR needs to be able to store additional trains at Port Washington station so they are in the proper location for the beginning of the morning rush hour.