(Newsday posted the following article by Jennifer Maloney on its website on November 9.)
NEW YORK — The Long Island Rail Road has narrowed wide gaps at eight more stations in Nassau County and Queens by shifting tracks closer to platforms.
The railroad recently raised and shifted tracks at the following stations, which previously had not been on the railroad’s list of stops slated for adjustments: Locust Manor, Laurelton, Greenvale, Glen Head, Sea Cliff, Glen Cove, Albertson and Roslyn. The work comes as local politicians call for swifter action to shrink gaps and state investigators prepare to release a report on the death of Natalie Smead, 18, who on Aug. 5 fell through a gap at Woodside station. Smead, of Northfield, Minn., crawled under the concrete platform and was struck by a train on the other side.
Woodside’s Track 3, where Smead fell, was shifted between 1.5 and 1.75 inches closer to the platform Saturday, said LIRR spokeswoman Susan McGowan. Track 2 at Woodside is slated for adjustment within the next few weeks, she said.
LIRR, state and federal officials began examining the gap issue after Smead’s death and a Newsday investigation that found gaps as wide as 15 inches – twice the railroad’s minimum standard of 7 to 8 inches.
Smead’s family last month filed a $5-million lawsuit against the railroad.
Port Jefferson station, where Newsday measured gaps as wide as 15 inches – some of the widest in the LIRR system – is not yet slated for track work.
“We are continuing to analyze data for other stations, including Port Jefferson, to determine if we can achieve a reduction in the gap through track resurfacing,” McGowan said.
Railroad officials have declined to disclose the cost of the adjustments. McGowan also declined to disclose the status of the railroad’s internal survey of gap widths.