Town pursuing new plan to move bus stop away from vacant LIRR station house

In the hope of making the vacant LIRR station house more marketable as a rental property and improving traffic flow on Railroad Avenue, Riverhead officials are working with the MTA/Long Island Railroad and Suffolk County to relocate the bus stops on Railroad Avenue west of the current location.

Parking spaces on the north side of the street would be removed to create an area for buses to pull off and two bus shelters would be installed there. The estimated cost of the work would be just under $26,000, not including the bus shelters, according to an estimate prepared by by assistant town engineer Ernesto Rosini.

The MTA is looking to lease the long-vacant train station building, Riverhead Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith explained. The current bus stop location, directly in front of the building, presents a problem for a possible tenant, Jens-Smith said.

Suffolk Transit buses stopping to pick up or discharge passengers at the bus stop there often block the street because the buses stop within the narrow lane of travel, creating a safety hazard, Jens-Smith said. The safety issue is exacerbated when two buses arrive to the stop at once, she said.

People waiting for a bus directly in front of the building also present a problem for a potential tenant, she said.

Loitering at the bus stop has long been considered a problem by town officials. The current bus stop location has a roof that protects people from the elements and until last year had two benches on the sidewalk on the street-side of the building. The platform on the north side of the building, facing the tracks, is not used for passenger boarding or disembarking — which takes place at an elevated platform to the east of the building. Maintaining cleanliness on the unused platform has long been a vexing problem.

Previous efforts by both the MTA and the town to get the building occupied have not been successful.

The 1,500-square foot brick building, constructed in 1910, has not been used by the railroad since the early 1970s. The MTA spent $1 million to renovate the building nearly 20 years ago, then leased it to the Town of Riverhead at no charge, on the condition that the premises be occupied by a nonprofit organization.

The Riverhead Business Improvement District moved its office there in 2002, only to vacate within two weeks, with then-executive director of the BID citing safety concerns. It remained vacant until the town allowed a local soup kitchen to serve boxed lunches there beginning in 2009. The lease to the town expired in September 2011.

The MTA issued an RFP seeking a tenant for the building in 2012, but it did not result in a lease. The town began negotiating a lease agreement with the MTA in 2017 and planned to have Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps use the space as an administrative office. But the town found space for RVAC in town hall and the railroad station plan never came to pass.

The MTA is planning to issue another RFP, Jens-Smith said Thursday.

Though it has not been used as a ticket office and waiting room and has remained locked and closed to the publice for 40 years, the building is the site of a bus stop for four Suffolk Transit bus lines. With its wide roof overhangs, the building provides shelter from the weather and, until last summer, there was also sheltered seating for people waiting for a bus, until the two benches were removed to discourage loitering.

In 2017, the town asked the county to move the bus stop to Cedar Avenue, which would have required rerouting the buses, increasing transit time and expense, according to the county, which said it would cost $20,000 more per year to change the route. The sidewalk on Cedar Avenue is not wide enough to accommodate a shelter, which drew criticism from transit advocates. Cedar Street itself is too narrow to accommodate a stopped bus and two-way traffic. The county didn’t approve the plan.

Board members were generally agreeable with moving forward to pursue the concept plan.

“I’m in favor of it. I just want to know where the funds are coming from,” Councilman Tim Hubbard said.

“And what’s the expectation — more buses, more trains?” asked Councilwoman Jodi Giglio.

“First and foremost, safety,” the supervisor said. “And yes, that is the whole concept of downtown revitalization, encouraging people to use alternative transportation — buses, trains, walking.”

Councilman James Wooten said if the proposal “gets people away from congregating around that building, it makes it more enticing to put something in that building.”

Councilwoman Catherine Kent said board members can all agree the area needs the board’s attention.

“It is an area of concern and key to downtown revitalization,” Kent said. “And any chance we get we should advocate to get more trains out here.”

Jens-Smith said she wanted to present the concept to the board to get its assent before moving forward with it and exploring funding possibilities.

Board members agreed the town should pursue the plan.