Long Island's grade crossing problem

An increasingly growing problem with the LIRR has been the recent abundance of vehicle grade crossing strikes. In the last 2 years, there have been 4-5 significant ones. Most recently, on Feburary 3rd, an extra train running from Jamaica to Ronkonkoma (a result of earlier cancellations) struck a car around 7:15pm. Luckily, there were only a couple injuries and no fatalties but this comes to show the consequences of a bad decision. This shows that Long Island is in the midst of a grade crossing crisis.

Incident in Farmingdale on Feb 3rd

A common trend you will notice with the grade crossing strikes is that most of the more notable ones occur on the Ronkonkoma Branch. And this makes sense, given that not only are the grade crossings on the Ronkonkoma Branch are on straight, 80 mph high speed branch, but it also passes through some of the densest areas as well. At big railroad crossings with very frequent traffic, passenger vehicles and 80 mph multiple-units do not mix well. I think the main solution to this issue would be for the LIRR to look to either close or grade-separate the crossings on the Ronkonkoma Branch, at least the most prevalent ones. Many of the grade crossings on the Ronkonkoma Branch are just an accident waiting to happen. 

While the two most dangerous ones, Pond Rd and Ocean Avenue in Ronkonkoma are scheduled for elimination (which is a great thing), there are a couple other dangerous ones as well like Carleton Avenue in Central Islip, Suffolk Avenue in Brentwood, and Straight Path in Wyandanch are most cause for concern. Additionally, Broadway in Bethpage and Robbins Lane in Syosset have also been cited to be dangerous. I personally think eliminating these particular grade crossings as well would also help the issue and while this would be expensive, it would help significantly to prevent these accidents from happening. 

The LIRR should also do a better job educating drivers on the importance of practicing safety when on or near grade crossings. 

In the end, as Long Island grows and gets even more congested, grade crossing strikes will likely become even more common and the LIRR should do something about this issue now, and begin projects to eliminate the most dangerous ones before we lose more people to crossing strikes.