Valley Stream's Gibson train station parking lot to be repaved

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Sept. 28 approved a $1.33 million project to repave parking lots at the Gibson, Little Neck and Cedarhurst Long Island Railroad stations.

On the north side of the Gibson train station in Valley Stream, there is a 44-space, LIRR-owned parking lot operated by the Village of Valley Stream. The estimated cost to upgrade the Gibson parking lot is $310,000, and will be funded by the MTA’s capital program.

“Obviously, any improvement to parking lots for our residents and commuters is a good thing,” said Mayor Ed Fare. “Whenever village infrastructure can be improved, the village is receptive.”

The renovations to the Gibson station parking lot will include milling, re-grading, repaving and restriping. Parking and signage will also be replaced in accordance with the latest requirements of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, according to LIRR President Patrick Nowakowski.

Several commuters agreed that the renovations were needed.

“I think they need to make the lots bigger and more handicap accessible,” said Maria LoCasto, 50, of Valley Stream. “They also need something between the platform and the train door to make it easier to get a wheelchair onboard.”

LoCasto and her sister, Maria Necci, 60, of East Meadow, use the LIRR to bring their father, who uses a wheelchair, to and from doctor’s appointments.

“They need to make the lots bigger because there’s nowhere for you to park,” Necci said of the Gibson stop. “Every one of these lots says you need a permit that proves you live here. On the street, they need to add meters where you can pay with a credit card instead of quarters.”

Jeremy Pinquist, 40, of Valley Stream, has been commuting on the LIRR for 18 years. He said he thought the MTA should concentrate its efforts on safety before repaving parking lots.

“I think they should be concentrating on the positive train control system,” he said, which is the system used to stop trains in an emergency. “They should improve that before working on anything cosmetic.”

He pointed to the recent New Jersey Transit train crash that killed one and injured more than 100 people at the Hoboken Terminal on Sept. 29, and the derailment of an LIRR commuter train that was side-swiped by a maintenance train in New Hyde Park on Oct. 8 as causes for concern. Thirty-three people were injured in the LIRR accident.

Though the projects were approved, a date to start repaving the parking lots has yet to be determined, according to Salvatore Arena, a spokesman for the MTA.