The roadbed of the 74-year-old Ellison Avenue Bridge is so bad, it's a patchwork of potholes and steel plates.
So the MTA is taking the whole thing down — and suspending all LIRR service between Hicksville and Mineola for 48 hours, while the work takes place.
This primarily affects the Ronkonkoma and Port Jefferson Branches, where customers will need to factor in up to an hour of extra travel time to take shuttle buses. But LIRR spokesman Salvatore Arena says because of the location of the work, "every other branch of the railroad is affected in some way."
The MTA says the service suspension will affect 40,000 riders — some of whom will be heading into the city for a hotly anticipated playoff event.
"Hockey fans planning to take the train to Madison Square Garden for the New York Rangers’ Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Tampa Bay at 1 p.m. on Saturday will need to plan their
travels with this service disruption in mind," reads the MTA's press release.
For more information about the service disruption, as well as for shuttle bus information, see below.