The Town of North Hempstead has developed a contingency plan in the event Long Island Railroad workers go on strike July 20.
North Hempstead officials said Thursday that the town plans to offer free parking at North Hempstead Beach Park in Port Washington for commuters who wish to carpool, and an additional 300 parking spaces would be allocated at its facilities at iPark at 1305 Union Turnpike in New Hyde Park so that commuters could catch nearby bus services into Queens.
Officials have also created a “one-stop shopping” page on North Hempstead’s website to list alternative transportation options, including carpooling information, schedules for the Nassau Inter County Express bus service, as well as subway schedules and routing information for other Metropolitan Transportation Authority services.
“I remain hopeful that a strike will be averted, but as the saying goes, ‘Hope for the best and plan for the worst,’” North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth said in a statement. “We are planning for the worst case scenario so that we are ready to help our local commuters in the event of a strike. We hope that by opening up some Town parking areas we can make some transportation options more accessible to commuters.”
The Long Island Rail Road serves approximately 300,000 riders on weekdays. About 5,400 employees would be affected in the event of a strike.
