Old LIRR line to become recreational trail

Some completely overgrown railroad tracks used to be the LIRR's Wading River line in the early 1900s. The line ran from Port Jefferson to Wading River.

A frequent commuter was inventor and genius Nikola Tesla, who had a research lab in Shoreham. Trains would bring equipment from the city to the Tesla lab and people to the East End. It hasn't been used for almost 80 years. Now government officials are one step closer to transforming it into a biking and hiking trail.

The $9.5 million rails-to-trails project is 80 percent federally funded with a 20 percent local match, according to Rep. Lee Zeldin. The roughly 10-mile trail will stretch along a good portion of the North Shore of Suffolk County, winding its way through several communities, including Port Jefferson Station, Mount Sinai and Shoreham.

Government has secured the funding. The project is expected to be finished by 2018.