LIRR eliminating 2 grade crossings in Ronkonkoma

The LIRR is moving forward with plans to eliminate two railroad grade crossings in Ronkonkoma that are considered among the most accident-prone track intersections in Suffolk County.

The Federal Railroad Administration awarded the New York State Department of Transportation grant funding earlier this month to begin an effort to eliminate the LIRR’s grade crossings at Ocean Avenue and Pond Road in Ronkonkoma, according to railroad documents published online.

“Eliminating the crossings would reduce the likelihood of fatalities and serious injuries and improve traffic flow and overall quality-of-life at these locations,” LIRR President Robert Free said in a statement.

The federal grant funding will go toward planning, preliminary engineering, and an environmental review, according to the railroad. The LIRR did not disclose a total budget for the work, or when construction would begin.

There are nearly 300 rail-grade crossings on Long Island, and despite the inherent problems of having trains share an intersection with cars and pedestrians, crossing elimination projects are rare. The railroad eliminated eight grade crossings, all in Nassau, between 2018 and 2022 as part of its $2.5 billion Third Track project. In most cases, the railroad sunk the roadway to carry vehicles underneath its tracks.

Before those projects, the last time the LIRR had eliminated a crossing was in 1998, when it elevated its tracks over the roadway at two Mineola crossings.

The two crossings pegged for elimination in Suffolk rank relatively high in the Federal Railroad Administration’s “Web Accident Prediction System,” which uses historic data to determine the likelihood for accidents at crossings. The Pond Avenue crossing ranked 15th out of about 200 Suffolk County crossings, having last reported an accident in 2022.

Ocean Avenue ranked 27th. Its last accident was in 2019, according to FRA data.

The Suffolk County crossing with the highest likelihood for an accident is at 18th Street in Wyandanch. It was the site of an accident in 2020, 2022 and 2023, according to the FRA.

Check back for updates on this developing story.