(The following story by Alfonso A. Castillo appeared on the Newsday website on September 18.)
NEW YORK — The Long Island Rail Road’s next major capital project will be a $93.4-million overhaul of a deteriorating stretch of track and infrastructure in Brooklyn that is more than a century old, LIRR president Helena Williams announced yesterday.
The elevated “Atlantic Avenue Viaduct” stretches for 1 1/2 miles between the East New York and Nostrand Avenue stations and sees some 25,000 riders every weekday. But bridge inspectors have reported corroding steel, areas of crumbling concrete and other decay that have put the project at the top of the LIRR’s priority list.
“Like all infrastructure, when you have things that become 100 years old, you have to spend the money to repair it,” Williams said at a meeting of the LIRR Committee of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board.
Construction is to begin next month and take place on weekends for the next 16 months, LIRR officials said. The $93.4- million cost covers the project’s first phase, which is funded in the current capital plan.
The project is not expected to affect service on Brooklyn trains, which at times will operate on a single track as construction takes place. Because demolition and replacement will take place on weekends, tracks will be fully operational by Monday morning rush hours, LIRR officials said.
The project involves replacing 87 steel spans, installing new tracks as well as center and outer walkways, and slapping on a fresh coat of paint.
Although Williams said it was “time to make an investment” in the deteriorating viaduct, which was built in 1901, she said the stretch was “never unsafe,” as inspectors and maintenance crews have stayed on top of regular repairs.
“Our goal is to restore this much-traveled and critical stretch of railroad infrastructure to a state of good repair and extend the service of the viaduct,” Williams said.
While riders on the rails may be unaffected by the project, travelers down below most certainly will be. The project will require temporary street lane and intersection closures and rerouting of traffic from Ralph Avenue to Nostrand Avenue.
Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz said yesterday that LIRR planners fully briefed his office about the project and he is “satisfied this renovation is necessary to repair a century-old section of the system.” Concerns over traffic, detours and emergency service access “have been adequately addressed,” he said.
The LIRR won’t budget funding for the second half of the project until its next capital plan, which will take effect in 2010. That comes as the MTA faces unprecedented fiscal pressures driven by real estate tax shortfalls and surging fuel prices.