Massapequa and Wantagh Station Renovations

[lirr42]

I popped by the Massapequa station on the Montauk Branch earlier this week to check out how work was progressing on the station platform rehabilitation project going on there. There seems to have been some improvement since my last visitthere, a good sign for sure. I took a number of photos, and they are included below. I didn't have my camera with me, so I used my phone to capture the photos instead (and it was freezing out)(so pardon the low quality!) It looks like all of the precast concrete platform segments have been flown into place (and the crane is now gone). All but the concrete immediately over the waiting room area has been installed, and it appears like they have the framing to pour the concrete in for that last bit on-site. Presumably they did not want to risk dropping the heavy concrete slabs on-top of the still active waiting room and risk damaging anything there in the process.

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You'll notice that the new concrete platform is noticeably higher than the current one at the station:

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I found this curious at first since it wouldn't be all that easy to step down from the platform into the train, but when my eastbound train arrived in, I saw that there is a vertical gap between the train floor and the current station platform that you can kinda see in this photo:

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When I turned to the right to see how the doors line up with the new platform height, I saw that it is an almost perfectly level match with the new platform:

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There is still a horizontal gap, as can be seen in this photo, but that is to be expected on an active mainline with trains passing at high speeds (there's no way to remove any trace of a gap on commuter railroads):

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You'll also notice a curious structure popped up at the far west end of the platform. That is the first of the canopy segments. I still known several people in the area, and reports I've gotten from them indicate that that entire steel structure at the far end of the platform was assembled in about two hours right after the Morning Rush hour on Friday 3/7/14. Presumably it's all prefabricated elsewhere and all they had to do was lift it into place and weld it together. The steel structure will not be the finished canopy, because (as you will see in the photos below), it won't do a very good job of keeping the rain and sun away as it is now. They will presumably have some sort of paneling they will install over and around the steel support structure to give the structure its finished look.

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The east end of the structure is rounded off, so that looks like it will pretty much confirm that the Massapequa Station will not be getting a full-length canopy like it currently has now. The canopies will only be over the staircase/elevator/waiting room areas and parts of the platform will be exposed to the elements. Presumably, the next steps in the project will be to get the last bit of the concrete over the station waiting room poured, at which point they can erect the canopy over that part of the station platform. After that, they will still have to build the new elevator (as the old one was demolished as part of the project), put in the platform waiting room, lighting, announcement systems, station displays, etc. There still seems to be a lot of work to be done (though when they are working on the station, they can get a lot done very quickly). In my last visit, the worker I struck up a conversation with was "not optimistic" about sticking to the project's timeline, though someone I spoke with at the scene this time said they expect to have the western half ready in May. I'll keep an eye on the station every time the LIRR doesn't send my trains down the Mainline and will visit it again to see how work is progressing in a few weeks.

To see the full bunch of photos I took on Thursday, they are all up on my Flickr page.

Posted on 3/15/2014 06:00:00 AM 1 Comment
See more posts about: Babylon Branch, Capital Construction, Massapequa, Massapequa Station Renovation, Stations

[JamesRR]

It's really interesting how the old platforms were low, and the new slabs will nearly even them out with the doors. I wonder if the height was always this way? I regularly used the RVC station, and don't remember that much of a height difference - (it likely varied from station to station, considering the stations were elevated at different times).

[bellstbarn]

Today, 4.2.2014, a crane lived to the platform the pieces for the second new canopy, which was quickly assembled. Now the western half of the platform has two separate canopies.

[MattAmity90]

I know it has been a while since anyone posted about Massapequa's progress, but I'm just wondering how much further they've gotten into Phase 1.

[bellstbarn]

On Saturday the 17th, I was surprised to see a workforce on the west end of the platform. Nobody was working yesterday (Memorial Day Weekend). I suspect that some of the workers get in the way of the others. One group is doing the brickwork around the stairwells. Another group is doing the underside of the canopies. Two new canopies are up, but the undersides will need lighting, signs, etc. They probably cannot work over the spots the bricklayers are working, or something like that. About four days ago, an enclosed tractor trailer was parked on the south side, as if delivering much material.
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It is clear that the new canopy will not cover the entire 12 car length. The west end has canopies above the stairs and the new waiting room. The platform-level structure for the elevator is under construction. It looks to be a glass booth, as at Seaford and Bellmore, good for security. HOWEVER, as the elevator will run in a shaft at the same spot as the old one, the street-level exit may well be the "spooky," claustrophobic passageway from the south side. At Seaford and Bellmore, the street level position of the elevator is glass-enclosed.

[MattAmity90]

On Saturday the 17th, I was surprised to see a workforce on the west end of the platform. Nobody was working yesterday (Memorial Day Weekend). I suspect that some of the workers get in the way of the others. One group is doing the brickwork around the stairwells. Another group is doing the underside of the canopies. Two new canopies are up, but the undersides will need lighting, signs, etc. They probably cannot work over the spots the bricklayers are working, or something like that. About four days ago, an enclosed tractor trailer was parked on the south side, as if delivering much material.
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It is clear that the new canopy will not cover the entire 12 car length. The west end has canopies above the stairs and the new waiting room. The platform-level structure for the elevator is under construction. It looks to be a glass booth, as at Seaford and Bellmore, good for security. HOWEVER, as the elevator will run in a shaft at the same spot as the old one, the street-level exit may well be the "spooky," claustrophobic passageway from the south side. At Seaford and Bellmore, the street level position of the elevator is glass-enclosed.

Have the stairs been constructed? I knew that the canopies were not going to cover the entire 12-car platform, it's going to look exactly like Seaford. I'm also guessing that some of the wiring has been installed so they can install the lights and "Solari Signs" in the uncovered portions in the center of the platform?

[inthebag]

It's not 100% coverage but there's definitely more canopy than what currently exists at Seaford.

[MattAmity90]

Seaford has 3 canopies, One at the West End at Jackson Avenue, One over the Waiting Room that contains the elevator, and the other is at the East End for the Washington Avenue exit.

[bellstbarn]

On May 25, 2014, Matt asked whether the western stairways have been constructed. I cannot see the work, as the lower end of the stairs is blocked by wood barricade, and I'd need to walk the platform to see the top. Please note that these were concrete stairs inside the earth fill on which the railroad rests. It's not a question of installing metal staircases that can be seen from the street. I see workers Monday-Friday still installing things on the platform, with bricks around the stairways. The unknown issue is whether the unusual "catwalk" (or whatever you may want to call it) will become available to patrons who do not want to risk crossing Broadway on foot. There are several parking lots west of Broadway, and from the west end of the platform (on the east side of Broadway) there was a narrow flight of steps leading to a walkway between the tracks at wheel level. This led to two narrow flights of stairs down to the west sidewalk of Broadway. The girders to hold the catwalk are in place, but the stairways have not been replaced. It is certainly not a wheelchair route (narrow, with a cramped turn to descend the stairs), but I think it is a necessary part of the design. Pedestrians find crossing Broadway risky, even if they obey the walk signals. Turning cars get the same green the walkers get.

[Frank]

Here are some photos I took at Massapequa station a week ago. They are pretty much up to date.





























Enjoy!

[MattAmity90]

Thanks Frank, those pictures are beautiful and they have come a long way in 2 months! They already have the canopies fully installed, the elevator looks like it's halfway done, and all the rods for the signs and Solaris are put in along with the bricks. I would say the Western portion of the project is 75-80% complete. That one power pole was replaced as I can see, wondering if they are going to replace all of the wooden poles.

[Frank]

Thanks Frank, those pictures are beautiful and they have come a long way in 2 months! They already have the canopies fully installed, the elevator looks like it's halfway done, and all the rods for the signs and Solaris are put in along with the bricks. I would say the Western portion of the project is 75-80% complete. That one power pole was replaced as I can see, wondering if they are going to replace all of the wooden poles.

Thank you! Today I noticed there was workers and and excavator by the Unqua Creek trestle in Massapequa. It looks like work on the pocket track is progressing!

[bellstbarn]

The photos below show the work being done on the stairway to the west side of Broadway, Massapequa, 7.30.2014.

Broadway, Massapequa by sphoto33, on Flickr

Broadway, Massapequa by sphoto33, on Flickr

Other railroad systems, such as the New York, Westchester, and Boston, designed their stations with a single entrance/exit control point so that no ticket-checking was done on board the train. One advantage of the LIRR's use of ticket collectors on the trains is that the crowds leaving a train can scatter out many exits in different directions, as evidenced by the west-end stair cases at Massapequa, Seaford, and Baldwin, for example.

[bellstbarn]

At 8:30 this morning, 8.21.2014, crews are busy cleaning the stairs at the west end of Massapequa station, changing signs, removing barricades. A worker said the west end (that is, the new six-car platform) will be open for business on Monday morning, August 25, 2014.

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Wantagh platform renovations are listed on the request for Federal financial assistance, 2015.
Link: http://web.mta.info/mta/news/hearings/1 ... 140903.pdf

[MattAmity90]

So great to hear, man they completed Phase 1 well before scheduled completion. So this means starting this Monday, along with the west end of the station going into service being completed, will the elevator be in service?