The LIRR said it successfully erected a 1,200-ton bridge at Covert Avenue in New Hyde Park over the weekend, replacing a grade crossing.
“It was an amazing engineering feat,” village Mayor Lawrence Montreuil said in a telephone interview. “It seemed to have a minimal impact on the community.”
According to Montreuil and MTA Chief Development Officer Janno Lieber, the part of Covert Avenue closed for the project will reopen in October.
The Covert Avenue project was the fourth bridge installation this summer. The elimination of the Covert Avenue grade crossing is part of the Long Island Rail Road Expansion Project that is adding a third track on the 9.8-mile stretch of the Main Line between Floral Park and Hicksville.
The new bridge and tunnel structure was built by construction crews over the last several months. Over the weekend, railroad tracks were temporarily removed to erect the new bridge over a 48-hour period.
Following additional work in and around the area, when Covert Avenue reopens there will be a two-lane, grade-separated underpass with a pedestrian sidewalk on the east side of the underpass.
This project has been designed in conjunction with the Village of New Hyde Park, with feedback from local residents, commuters and elected officials, according to the MTA.
Lieber said in a phone interview that withholding money from the contractors after the results of a “community scorecard” of the areas most affected by third track work in July has proven to be beneficial as worksite conditions and debris cleanup have improved. New Hyde Park’s overall score for the project’s development was a 76.53 percent approval rating.
The third track developers were awarded $188,500 out of a possible $250,000 incentive reward for the community scorecard results.
Throughout the weekend, the MTA’s Mark McCarthy said, there were some “unusual reactions” to the project. While some in the development area were given offers to stay in hotels due to the noise of the worksite, others opted out of that and even stayed to watch the construction. Some even invited MTA workers in for tea and prayer.
In a release, the MTA reported, “Many residents and local officials, including Mayor of New Hyde Park Lawrence J. Montreuil and [Department of Public Works] Superintendent Tom Gannon, expressed how pleased they were with the execution of the project.”
Since the community scorecards were released in July conditions at local worksites in New Hyde Park have improved, Montreuil said.
He said that while construction noise was to be expected, he appreciated the concerns that the third track developers have shown for the community.
Montreuil said Oct. 9 is currently the date for the reopening of Covert Avenue.
