(Newsday circulated the following article by Jennifer Maloney on November 1.)
NEW YORK — State investigators Wednesday urged the Long Island Rail Road to improve its gap warning signs as a preliminary step to curb gap-related accidents — even though LIRR officials already have acknowledged that signs are not enough to prevent injuries and deaths.
In an unusual move, the state Public Transportation Safety Board Wednesday issued two interim recommendations — months before its investigation of the gap issue is scheduled to be complete. The suggestions: Post pictographic gap warning signs and stencil “Watch the Gap” on the yellow platform edges at every station.
The LIRR already has developed a pictographic sign showing a person stepping over a gap from platform to train. And in September, the railroad began moving tracks closer to platforms to shrink wide gaps at several stations, admitting that public awareness is only part of the solution.
“Education was one of our responses,” LIRR acting president Ray Kenny said in a recent interview, referring to gap solutions the railroad tried before Smead’s death. “Now we’re seeing there’s more we can do.”
The signs using internationally recognizable symbols have been installed at seven stations, including Woodside, where a Minnesota teen fell through a gap on Aug. 5 and died after being struck by a train .
LIRR, state and federal officials began investigating the gap issue after Smead’s death and a Newsday investigation that found gaps as wide as 15 inches at some stations.
The LIRR has stenciled gap warnings on platform edges at the Shea Stadium stop and plans to do the same at six more stations starting today, said LIRR spokeswoman Susan McGowan.
Responding to the safety board’s recommendations, Kenny outlined the railroad’s stepped-up education campaign and highlighted the ongoing track work.
“We are continuing to work on both short- and long-term solutions to the gap issue,” Kenny wrote in a letter to John Guinan, the safety board’s executive director.
State investigators will recommend more comprehensive — and likely more costly — gap solutions in their final gap report early next year, said state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer Nelson.
“We agree with Long Island Rail Road that education is not enough, but education is certainly a component of it,” she said.
The state’s signage recommendations were based on interviews with commuters — some of whom said they thought “Watch the Gap” was an advertisement for the Gap clothing store chain.
“Some people thought it was a tease for the store,” Nelson said. “We got that response from more than one person.”
State investigators so far have measured gaps at about half the 123 LIRR stations, Nelson said. They also are analyzing gap measurements Metro-North recently made at its own stations.
Nelson said the state suggested these “first steps” because they could be implemented quickly and cheaply.
LIRR officials have similarly categorized the track adjustments currently under way, saying the work can be completed quickly and financed through the regular maintenance budget. Railroad officials, however, have not disclosed the cost of the track work.
Asked why the state did not include track adjustment in its list of interim recommendations, Nelson said: “We’re certainly not going to issue engineering recommendations piecemeal. It would be irresponsible for us to do that.”
State Sen. Dean Skelos, who called for a state investigation days after Smead’s death, praised the LIRR for working with the state transportation officials and for moving quickly to fix gaps.
“We’re going to keep pushing them,” said Skelos (R-Rockville Centre). “And certainly if money is needed, the MTA is going to have to come up with the money so that more people are not killed or injured.”