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Service Alert B, D, N, & R (9:00 pm)

Posted by
on December 3rd, 2007 at 9:15 pm

Due to a police investigation at the Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street Station:

Coney Island-bound n is running on the r line from the Canal Street Station to the DeKalb Avenue Station.

Coney Island-bound b and d trains are running with delays.

Please expect delays in service on the b, d, n and r trains at this time.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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0

LIRR Crossing In Huntington Finally Repaired

Posted by
on December 3rd, 2007 at 8:49 pm

Huntington resident Jean Kouwenhoven must be very happy tonight according to a story in yesterday’s Newsday. The Newsday reprinted a brief letter that Jean sent them complaining about the uneven grade crossing on Oakwood Road in Huntington. Beneath the letter was the article featuring the news Jean & many other drivers have been waiting to hear, the crossing has been repaired! Here is the full article courtesy of Newsday:

The LIRR crossing on Oakwood Road in Huntington is so uneven the cars go around it to avoid the raised pavement on the tracks. It’s just a question of time before one car swerves into another car. I have been after people since last year to get it fixed. I wrote the town and county and learned it’s the LIRR’s responsibility. I left a message a few weeks ago at the railroad and they never called.

Jean Kouwenhoven, Huntington

Drivers won’t have to do any more pothole dodging at the Oakwood Road crossing.

Workers finished overhauling the roadway by the tracks on Tuesday, using 20 tons of new asphalt, LIRR spokesman Sam Zambuto said.

After we called the railroad about the problem, the crossing was reinspected. Zambuto said that inspection confirmed what the railroad already knew – the crossing needed help.

Previous inspections had put the Oakwood Road crossing on the railroad’s repair radar, although the LIRR did not perceive a “current hazard,” Zambuto said.

“The crossing needs asphalt work and that was something we were planning to do,” Zambuto said before the repair work began on Nov. 21.

The asphalt on both sides of the tracks was replaced across all traffic lanes. Repairs were also made to the rubberized crossing panels for smoother driving over the tracks. Oakwood Road is one of 290 street-level train crossings within the LIRR system that are regularly inspected, Zambuto said.

Anyone with a problem involving an LIRR crossing should call Public Affairs at 718-558-8228. Complaints can be e-mailed by visiting mta.info, click the FAQs/Contact Us button on the left and then click E-mail at the bottom of the page.

While it is good to see that the problem was fixed, I do have a couple of opinions about this. For starters why did it take Newsday contacting the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) to get this project expedited. The MTA urges customers to contact them with any comments, concerns or suggestions yet they seem to overlook what is sent in. I don’t think it should have taken the Newsday contacting them to get the work completed ahead of whatever schedule they had in mind.

The next piece of business is in regards to their choice of how to repair the crossing. When I finished reading this article on their website, I noticed that someone had left a comment. The comment was left by Anne & she had this to say:

That has finally been repaired? I am in shock!!!!!!! Oh, please. that crossing had been messed up for a long time. I remember the holes at the edge of the tracks 35 years ago. They should rip the entire crossing up and start from scratch. They have down work on that crossing years ago. But for some reason, it never stayed repaired. Use to go around the holes a lot.

If this crossing has been repaired before & the problems kept manifesting itself, maybe Anne’s suggestion is the right way to go about this. Why keep repairing the crossing if the problem is going to manifest itself? This is not cost effective & in a time where wasting money stands out more then ever, the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) should have seriously looked into what would be the best way to fix this problem once & for all.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Transportation Alternatives Launches Crashstat 2.0

Posted by
on December 3rd, 2007 at 7:41 pm

Earlier today, Transportation Alternatives announced the launch of their new website Crashstat 2.0. The website which will call Crashstat.org its home is the second version of the hugely popular Crashstat website which launched in 2004. The site is considered to be a key resource in finding out what are the most dangerous streets in regards to bicycle & pedestrian crashes. Today’s debut was marked by a press release so here is that entire press release courtesy of Transportation Alternatives:

Crashstat 2.0 Reveals NYC’s most Dangerous Streets

New Website Provides 11 Years of Bicycle and Pedestrian Crash Data

Thousands of pedestrians and bicyclists are injured or killed on NYC streets every year. With the launch of Transportation Alternatives’ newest web resource, Crashstat 2.0, New Yorkers can identify the most dangerous streets in their neighborhood and work for a safer city. This interactive website allows users to search through 11 years of bicycle and pedestrian crashes on easy-to-use Google Maps. Crashstat 2.0 displays 139,227 pedestrian crashes and 44,942 bike crashes.

Crashstat identifies East 33rd Street and Park Avenue in Manhattan as the intersection with the highest number of pedestrian and bicyclist injuries and fatalities in NYC. The intersections with the most crashes in each borough are:

* Manhattan: Park Avenue and East 33rd Street: 156 crashes
* Brooklyn: Eastern Parkway and Utica Avenue: 120 crashes
* The Bronx: East Fordham Road and Webster Avenue: 99 crashes
* Queens: Queens Boulevard and 63rd Road: 72 crashes
* Staten Island: Victory Boulevard and New Dorp Lane: 34 crashes

“Crashstat 2.0 is an indispensable tool for New Yorkers fed up with dangerous streets,” says Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. “Anyone with an internet connection and a few minutes to spare can go online, research their streets and win stronger safety measures.”

Version 2.0 includes the ability to view crash data by community district, displays community facilities (schools, hospitals, senior centers, etc.) and enables users to search through yearly data between 1995 and 2005. The original version of Crashstat.org ushered in a new era of technology-driven community activism. It launched in 2004 and compiled data from 1997-2002.

Visit the site at crashstat.org.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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2

Groundbreaking On The 7 Line Expansion Project

Posted by
on December 3rd, 2007 at 6:39 am

7 Train @ Queensboro Plaza
(Flushing-Main Street bound 7 train @ Queensboro Plaza; resized photo courtesy of Eye On Transit

According to Marlenne Naanes of AMNY, the MTA & elected officials are expected to break ground this morning on the 7 line expansion project. Here is the full article courtesy of AMNY:

The MTA and elected officials are expected to break ground Monday morning on the No. 7 train expansion project that will extend the Flushing line from Times Square to the Javits Convention Center, transportation officials confirmed.

The ground breaking will occur within the Times Square station.

The city-funded $2.1-billion project includes the construction of a new station at 34th Street and 11th Avenue. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board awarded a contract for the 1-½ mile tunnel and station in October.

The contract also includes the option for the shell of a second station at 10th Avenue and 41st street, but the MTA is still seeking $450 million in funding for that work. MTA Board members have asked the agency to include the 10th Avenue station to accommodate residential development in Hells Kitchen.

The MTA is set to finish the extension project by 2013.

I have expressed my opinion on the 7 line expansion project in the past which can be read by clicking here. For more information on the project you can click here.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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A New AMNY “Extreme Commuter”

Posted by
on December 3rd, 2007 at 6:38 am

Last month, I wrote an entry about a feature AMNY started called “Extreme Commuter”. Well AMNY is back with a new member of the “Extreme Commuter” team whose daily commute features the use of 3 different transit systems going across two state lines while traveling through 3 states! Here is the article showcasing the newest member of the AMNY “Extreme Commuter” team courtesy of AMNY:

Human resources manager Carin Dupuis is no stranger to train transfers–she does it four times a day, among three transit systems and across three states.

“The absolute worst part of the commute is being on a New York City subway,” she said during a recent morning commute. “It’s so hot and crowded. Often there isn’t even a place to stand, let alone to sit.”

A resident of Stamford, Conn., Dupuis rises each workday at 5:45 am. After dropping her daughter off at school by 7, she boards a 7:21 Metro-North train from Stamford to Grand Central Terminal. Arriving at 8:25 a.m., she makes her way through the heard of rush-hour commuters to the Nos. 4 or 5 subway trains for the ride downtown to Fulton Street.

Although it’s an express, the packed train sometimes moves at a snail’s pace, taking as long as 40 minutes to get though the three express stops to Fulton. Once she arrives, this Extreme Commuter goes above ground for a short walk over to Church Street to the World Trade Center station, where she takes the PATH train one stop to Jersey City and her job at Ana-Data Consulting, a financial technology firm.

“The good thing about the PATH is that I can take any train,” she said, nearing the end of her commute. “My stop is Exchange Place, and it’s the first stop no matter which train I take.”

Dupuis is looking forward to the eventual completion of the Fulton Street Transit Center, which will allow her to skip the walk over to Church Street and connect directly to the PATH system.

“That means I’ll be able to go all the way from Connecticut to Jersey without going above ground at all,” she said.

Out of the three train systems she rides daily, Dupuis says she prefers the PATH for the frequency of its trains and its cleanliness.

Although she also realizes that part of what makes the PATH ride to Jersey in the morning, and back to Manhattan at night, so pleasant, is that it is the only part of her trip that is a reverse commute.

I also suggest you check out the video showcasing the commute by clicking here.

All I can say is wow at 6:35 a.m.! This woman is sure dedicated & some might say crazy. I am glad I don’t have to deal with her commute. I don’t even want to think what her commute must be like during the winter months! Depending on not 1, not 2, but 3 different transit systems is a scary proposition on a clear day much less the winter!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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