(The following article by Joie Tyrrell was posted on the Newsday website on September 3.)
NEW YORK — Despite dire predictions of a nightmarish commute during the Republican National Convention, many Long Island Rail Road passengers found each day’s ride to be a pretty easy trip.
“Besides all the cops around, it’s been fine,” said Camille Blake, a commuter from Huntington. “They’re just doing their job – it made me feel a little safer.”
And now with the convention behind them and the arrival of the three-day Labor Day weekend, Long Islanders can expect normal conditions for holiday travel on the roads and the rails. In fact, traffic may be lighter than usual today due to some motorists leaving early this week to avoid the convention, but Monday could be crunch time, according to the Automobile Club of New York.
“Without a doubt, Monday is going to be a mess,” said Automobile Club spokesman Robert Sinclair Jr.
Major airports are reporting an increase in travel over last Labor Day weekend. The Automobile Club of America is predicting record Labor Day holiday travel, with 34.1-million Americans traveling 50 miles or more from home this holiday, a 2.2 percent increase from last year.
Locally, Sinclair recommends that motorists avoid traveling late on Monday. He also said that travelers should watch the weather reports in case remnants of Hurricane Frances have reached the area.
Most major road construction projects have been halted from today at 3 p.m. through Tuesday morning, according to Eileen Peters, spokeswoman with the state Department of Transportation. However, work will continue tonight through early Saturday on the service roads on Sunrise Highway in the Town of Islip.
The Long Island Expressway eastbound and westbound lanes will be closed in western Nassau County from 10 p.m. tonight until 6 a.m. tomorrow. The service roads will remain open.
On the Long Island Rail Road, extra service today will include three trains on the Port Jefferson branch; three on the Babylon branch; one on the Ronkonkoma branch; one on the Port Washington branch to Great Neck; and one on the Far Rockaway branch. On Monday, the LIRR will operate on a Sunday schedule but has added two extra trains, one from Montauk and one from Bridgehampton.
The number of travelers using the region’s three major airports – Kennedy, Newark and LaGuardia – is expected to increase by 9 percent over last year’s holiday weekend, to 1.2-million passengers.