To ensure continued safety of motorists and train passengers alike, Long Island Rail Road workers will renew the railroad crossing at William Floyd Parkway (Suffolk County Route 46), between 10 p.m. Friday, May 12, and 5 a.m. Sunday, May 14. The work will include a rehabilitation of the concrete railroad crossing surface, as well as the tracks, including the steel rails and adjacent concrete ties, and the compacted stone bedding the ties rest in, which is known as ballast.

 

To enable the work, the Montauk Branch’s track will be taken out of service and buses will substitute for portions of the 24 Montauk Branch trains scheduled to travel east of Patchogue on Saturday, and William Floyd Parkway will be closed at the location of the railroad crossing.

 

This work is being done in careful coordination with local elected officials and public agencies, including the New York State Department of Transportation, Suffolk County Department of Public Works, Suffolk County Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services, Suffolk County Police Department, Town of Brookhaven Highway Department, MTA Police Department and MTA Fire Marshals.

 

 

The LIRR advises customers traveling to or from any station between Bellport and Montauk to plan for additional travel time and to be prepared to transfer between trains and buses at Patchogue. Between Patchogue and all points west, trains will run on their normal schedules. Customers may wish to consider the Ronkonkoma Branch as an alternative.

 

Details of the substitute bus service plan are below.

 

 

Twelve trains that normally would originate at Montauk or Speonk will instead originate at Patchogue. For customers at any station between Bellport and Montauk looking for westbound trains will instead find buses, which will depart between 16 and 34 minutes before the normal scheduled train departure times. For a schedule of bus departure times, please visit this link:

 

The first westbound train to be affected by this planned service change will be the 5:34 a.m. departure from Speonk on Saturday, May 13, due into Jamaica at 7:10 a.m. The last westbound train to be affected by this planned service change will be the 11:56 p.m. departure from Speonk on Saturday night, due into Jamaica at 1:39 a.m. on Sunday morning.

 

 

Twelve trains that normally continue east of Patchogue en route to Speonk or Montauk will instead terminate at Patchogue. Buses will be waiting at the station to accommodate customers looking for continued travel to all stations further east. Customers should anticipate up to an additional 29 minutes of travel time to their final destination. For scheduled bus arrival times, please visit this link:

 

The first eastbound train to be affected by this planned service change is the 12:35 a.m. departure from Babylon, normally due to arrive at Speonk at 1:35 a.m. on the morning of Saturday, May 13. The last train to be affected by this planned service change is the 11:23 p.m. departure from Babylon on Saturday night, normally due to arrive at Speonk at 12:27 a.m. on Sunday morning.

 

 

William Floyd Parkway (Suffolk County Route 46) will be closed at the railroad crossing from 10 p.m. Friday, May 12, to 5 a.m. Sunday, May 14. While the work is in progress, the Long Island Rail Road and the MTA Police will provide the necessary flagmen, detour signs and crossing protection.

 

The following detour routes have been established for motorists seeking to travel through the area.

 

Southbound: Proceed south on William Floyd Parkway to Montauk Highway. Make a right and proceed west to Smith Rd. Make a left and proceed south to Northern Blvd. Make a left and proceed east to William Floyd Parkway.

 

Northbound: Proceed north on William Floyd Parkway to Northern Blvd / Patchogue Ave. Make a right and proceed east to Mastic Rd. Make a left and proceed north to Montauk Highway. Make a left and proceed west to William Floyd Parkway.

 

Upon completion of the crossing panel installation, temporary paving material will be placed between the Long Island Rail Road crossing panels and a saw cut line of the roadway. The approaches to the crossing will be permanently repaved following the completion of the railroad crossing work.

 

 

The LIRR encourages customers to sign up for train service updates. Information about this service change and all planned service changes is available via many channels.

Email and text message service updates – Customers are encouraged to sign up to receive the alerts by visiting MyMTAAlerts.com. To avoid unwanted messages, a user can tailor the messages to the specific branch, and the specific times of day.

MTA.info – The rail tab of the “Service Status” box at the left side of www.MTA.infois always the definitive source for the latest status for each branch, updated every minute. In addition, customers can visit www.mta.info/lirrto see special service notices in the upper center of the page.

@LIRR on Twitter – Twitter users can follow @LIRR to receive updates of a similar nature to the email and text alerts, shortened to fit Twitter’s format.

LIRR Train Time app – Customers who use the LIRR Train Time app will see up-to-the-minute status for each upcoming train at each station. As a caution, trains that start out their trips on time may experience delays en route.

 

The above communications channels can be accessed while at home or on the go. For customers who are located at stations, the LIRR will post the latest service updates on digital signs at station platforms and will make audio announcements over public address systems, and on-board announcements made by train crews.

 

For those who prefer the telephone, information is available from the LIRR’s Customer Service Center by calling 511, the New York State Travel Information Line, and saying: “Long Island Rail Road” Those who are deaf or hard of hearing can use their preferred service provider for the free 711 relay to reach the LIRR at 511.