Great Neck Park District officials said Tuesday the district was looking for ways to improve its commuter parking lots in preparation for the completion of the Long Island Rail Road’s East Side Access Project.
Park District Commissioner Robert Lincoln said Metropolitan Transit Authority officials said the East Side Access Project, which will bring the LIRR straight into Grand Central Station, would increase ridership by 20 percent at the Great Neck train station upon its completion.
“We’re trying to get some discussion going within the community not simply about commuter parking but about how we can get people to and from the trains,” Lincoln said. “We should all be thinking now about what we will need in the next few years.”
The district’s Board of Commissioners set a special meeting for April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Great Neck House to discuss methods the district could use to ensure LIRR riders will be able to conveniently access the train station.
Currently, the district operates three commuter parking lots near the train station, totalling 354 spaces.
To park in those spaces, residents can obtain a daily pass for $4, a monthly pass for $68 and a yearly pass for $748.
Lincoln said the district completed its own parking analysis report, without a consultant, and found the current Great Neck train station serves about 3,000 riders per week, with that number increasing by 600 in the coming years because of the East Side Access Project and housing developments on the peninsula.
The report also found that 70 more parking spaces were needed to accommodate the number of expected riders by the completion of the East Side Access Project in 2018.
Lincoln said while constructing new parking facilities would solve the issue, there may be other solutions.
“We are reluctant to build a garage because that is very expensive,” he said. “We don’t want to build up the downtown to where there is no open area at all.”
Other possible solutions, Lincoln said, include shuttle bus or van service, group cab service, car pooling, and valet parking for commuters using the train.
He also said as well as resident input, the board was seeking suggestions from elected officials, Nassau Inter County Express bus officials and LIRR officials.
The district also set a discussion for its April 14 meeting to address resident concerns about a pilot program allowing residents to walk their dogs on leashes in Allenwood Park.
The pilot program began in late January after residents requested the district allow them to walk their dogs in Allenwood Park, similar to what is permitted at the Village Green.
But, Lincoln said, the district received a petition last week from a resident urging them to discontinue the program.
“Society is becoming more dog friendly,” he said. “But as elected officials, it is our job to respect the will of our constituents and if they say ‘we don’t want this,’ we have to act accordingly.”
Lincoln said there have been no incidents leading them to think the program should not be continued.
“We talked in generality that some people might go in there with an aggressive dog but we couldn’t point the finger to any event that actually happened,” he said. “If we see there is any type of issue or problem, even in the Village Green, obviously we would shut it down.”
The park district’s meeting will take place at the Great Neck House at 8 p.m.
