It’s been a long time coming, so southeast Queens elected and community leaders braved the cold on Friday, Jan. 23 to join officials from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in announcing the substantial completion of the $15 million renovation project at the Laurelton Long Island Rail Road station on the Far Rockaway branch.
State Sen. Leroy Comrie recalled the station’s condition being a hot button topic since the days when he was an aide to political titan Archie Springer, who represented southeast Queens on the City Council for 27 years stretching back to the mid-1970s.
“The completion of the Laurelton accessibility project is a meaningful milestone for Southeast Queens,” Comrie said. “Laurelton is a lifeline for this community, connecting residents to jobs, schools and medical appointments and family across our region. For many people here, public transit is not optional, it’s essential to daily life.”
He noted how the Federated Blocks of Laurelton Civic Association kept the pressure on for station upgrades since he succeeded Spigner on the City Council in 2001 and he thanked the MTA workers for making it happen.
“It’s great we have a project that was done by MTA workers: it shows they can build things and make things happen and bring it on-time and on-budget,” Comrie said.
On weekdays, more than 80 trains stop at the Laurelton station which opened in 1907, and current monthly ridership averages nearly 70,000. The project modernized the station with a new elevator and construction of a new tunnel to provide access to it from the street as well as ADA improvements to the parking lot and path of travel. Other upgrades include construction of sidewalks, curb ramps and retaining walls for the elevated station. Other additions include new CCTV cameras, station signage, information kiosks, communication room, safety and security systems, and other ADA and Code improvements.
“Laurelton is a hub, a community, but for many of our neighbors — seniors, parents with strollers, and residents with disabilities — this station was a barrier,” Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman said. “To the Southeast Queens community — we want people to stay here, we want people to be able to buy their homes here, and these are attributes that make that continuous.”
Laurelton commuters can make connections from the station to MTA buses including the Q77 with service to the Jamaica Bus Terminal, and the Q85 and Q89 with service to the Green Acres Mall.
“The true significance of this project lies in the everyday impact it will have in our community. These improvements are not conveniences, they are necessities,” Council Member Selvena Brooks-Powers said. “Accessibility across our transit system ensures everyone traveling on it feels truly welcome and has access to all the incredible opportunities and sights across this great city, from Southeast Queens to the Bronx and beyond.”
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards stated that the LIRR is the closest and most effective means of public transportation for much of the region’s population.
“But for our neighbors with mobility issues, the struggle of living in a transit desert is magnified exponentially,” he said. “That makes accessibility improvements like those made at the Laurelton LIRR station so critical as we ensure every resident, regardless of ability, has equitable access to mass transit courtesy of a modernized station in their own community.”
Richards thanked the MTA for making such a vital investment, which will continue to replicate boroughwide. The Laurelton announcement came just weeks after ADA upgrades were completed at the St. Albans station.
“Add Laurelton to the growing list of on-time and on-budget MTA projects,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said. “We brought this 119-year-old station into the 21st century with new accessibility and modern amenities for its 70,000 monthly riders — a huge success we’re ready to replicate across the railroad — and the entire MTA system.”
