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Earlier this week, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the state of New York will spend $150 million to connect the Long Island Rail Road's Ronkonkoma station with a proposed new terminal at MacArthur Airport, also in Ronkonkoma.
The redesigned airport will feature a pedestrian walkway linking it to the LIRR station, revamped road networks, the purchase of 48 additional acres of land and various infrastructure upgrades in the hopes of improving passenger experience and reducing travel times.
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The announcement follows the governor's previous commitment of $40 million for a new north terminal adjacent to the train station. At the moment, the main terminal is on the opposite side of the station. Clearly, the politician has high hopes for this specific project, although specific timelines have not been made public yet.
“Moving MacArthur’s terminal closer to Ronkonkoma station will encourage people to take the train to the airport,” said Long Island Rail Road President Rob Free in an official statement. “The LIRR is already the best travel experience to JFK and we are ready to help MacArthur Airport grow by bringing that same great travel experience there too.”
Formerly known as Islip Airport, the transportation hub was first activated in 1943, becoming a commercial airport in 1960 and primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties' residents as an alternative to the much larger John F. Kennedy Airport and LaGuardia Airport.
Although, currently, folks traveling from the airport to the LIRR station can make use of shuttle buses, the redevelopment will make the navigation between the two hubs smoother, hopefully increasing the number of folks booking flights into and out of the airport as well.