MTA awards contract for upgrades at LIRR Floral Park, Bellerose stations

Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) awarded the construction contract for complete station rehabilitations of the Bellerose and Floral Park Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) stations to make the stations fully accessible in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The first accessibility award of the 2025-2029 Capital Plan, these improvements, bundled into one package known as Package 3, include the installation of a new elevator at the Bellerose station and the replacement of a non-compliant escalator at the Floral Park station with a new wider, 32-inch escalator. The Floral Park station is accessible and has three elevators that were put into service in 2021 as part of the LIRR Main Line Expansion Project (Third Track).

In addition to the new elevator at the Bellerose station, all existing stairs will be replaced and crews will install new ADA-compliant ramps at the north and south entrances. Workers will extend the platform and install a built-in snow melt system for use during the winter months. At Floral Park, all three platforms will be re-built and extended and will receive new platform waiting rooms and new canopy cover for customers.

Both stations will undergo significant structural rehabilitation as well as State of Good Repair work. This includes the rebuilding of station waiting rooms, new and rehabilitated stairs and ramps, handrails and guardrails, new lighting, as well as upgrades to security and surveillance video systems. The Carnation, Tulip and Tyson Avenue Bridges at the Floral Park station will also undergo minor structural modifications and repairs as part of State of Good repair work at that station.

Following the opening of Grand Central Madison and completion of the Third Track project—which increased track capacity between Hicksville and Floral Park and unlocked more service across multiple branches—Bellerose saw a service increase of 14% and Floral Park saw a service increase of 68%. The Bellerose Station serves an average of 768 weekday riders and Floral Park, which is served by the Hempstead and Port Jefferson branches, serves an average of 3,257 weekday riders.

The 2025-2029 Capital Plan invests a historic $7.1 billion to make dozens of stations newly ADA-compliant by installing new elevators or modernizing existing elevators and escalators. For the LIRR, these funds will allow the MTA to reach its goal of making 98% of all LIRR stations accessible by the end of the program.

The work at Floral Park and Bellerose is being awarded to Scalamandre-Gramercy JV II, a joint venture consisting of Peter Scalamandre and Sons Inc., based in Freeport, and Gramercy Group, Inc., based in Wantagh.

Source: MTA