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It had long been considered a dangerous crossing, with more than 200 commuter trains barreling by every day, traveling up to 80 miles per hour — even as streams of cars waited to drive over the tracks.

It was so troubling that it was one of seven hazardous crossings along a 20-mile stretch of Long Island Rail Road track that were scheduled to be eliminated.

The construction work at the crossing in Nassau County was set to begin next year; plans called for a bridge for trains and an underpass for vehicles. But that was not soon enough to avoid a rush-hour tragedy on Tuesday.

Two Long Island Rail Road trains traveling in opposite directions slammed into a vehicle that had apparently driven around the crossing gates on School Street in Westbury. Three people, all of them inside the vehicle, were killed.