The south parking lot of the Long Island Rail Road will be closed starting Sept. 14 as the Town of Huntington adds more parking slots.
Scheduled to begin Sept. 13, the project will add 29 new parking spots, from 224 spaces 253 spaces, a new accessible sidewalk on the east side of Fairground Avenue, drainage and lighting improvements, resurfacing with new asphalt paving, two-way traffic flow down each aisle, new plantings around the lot and reconstruction of the southern retaining wall.
Lot use at the station is about 25 percent of what it was before the Covid-19 epidemic hit, town spokeswoman Lauren Lembo said. The south lot will be closed will be closed to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic for approximately 2-3 months, as will access between the south platform of the train station and the parking lot. Access to the south platform from the South Parking Garage will remain open. Vehicles must access the South Parking Garage via the southern entrance from Second Street and the eastern entrance from Lennox Road; there will be no access to the garage from Fairground Avenue.
“This complete overhaul of the South Parking Lot will add parking and public safety enhancements for our commuters,” said Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci. “These enhancements are among many improvements coming to our commuter parking facilities at the LIRR Huntington Train Station, taking place concurrently with the MTA LIRR’s project to replace the East Pedestrian Bridge.”
The town also approved funding in February for the construction of improvements to the North Parking Garage and West Pedestrian Bridge (owned by the Town).