The Bethpage State Parkway (or simply the Bethpage Parkway) is a
parkway
A parkway is a landscaped thoroughfare.''"parkway."''Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (14 Apr. 2007). The term is particularly used for a roadway in a park or ...
in
Nassau County on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, in the United States. It begins at a trumpet interchange with the
Southern State Parkway
The Southern State Parkway (also known as the Southern State or Southern Parkway; abbreviated as SO on Road signs in the United States, signage) is a limited-access highway on Long Island, New York (state), New York, in the United States. The pa ...
in the village of
North Massapequa
North Massapequa is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located on Long Island within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered part of the Greater Massapequa area, which is an ...
and serves Boundary Avenue,
NY 24
New York State Route 24 (NY 24) is a east–west state highway on Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. The highway is split into two segments, with the longest and westernmost of the two extending from an interchange with In ...
, and Central Avenue before terminating at a
traffic circle
A roundabout is a type of circular intersection (road), intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The N ...
with Plainview Road and a local park road in
Bethpage State Park
Bethpage State Park is a New York state park on the border of Nassau County and Suffolk County on Long Island. The park contains tennis courts, picnic and recreational areas and a polo field, but is best known for its five golf courses, inclu ...
. The parkway is designated as New York State Route 907E (NY 907E), an unsigned
reference route. It is also ceremoniously designated as the Philip B. Healey Memorial Parkway for Assemblyman
Philip B. Healey (1921–1996).
The Bethpage State Parkway was first proposed by
Robert Moses
Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...
and the
Long Island State Park Commission
The Long Island State Park Commission was created in 1924 by the New York State Legislature to build and operate parks and parkways on Long Island. Governor Al Smith was appointed as its first President, and Robert Moses, who had drafted the bill ...
in 1924 to help get people from
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
to parks in Nassau and Suffolk counties. Construction of the parkway began in 1934, and the highway opened on November 14, 1936, along with the
Laurelton Parkway Laurelton may refer to:
*Laurelton, Queens, New York City
*Laurelton, New Jersey
Laurelton is an unincorporated community located within Brick Township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States.
Settlement in the area dates back to the years af ...
(part of the Belt Parkway system) in Queens. The new parkway cost $1.04 million (1936 USD) to construct. Moses proposed extending the Bethpage in both directions, south to
Merrick Road
Merrick Road is an east–west urban arterial in Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties in New York, United States. It is known as Merrick Boulevard or Floyd H. Flake Boulevard in Queens, within New York City.
Merrick Road runs east from the Queens ...
via Massapequa State Park and north to
Caumsett State Park
Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve is a state park on Lloyd Neck, a peninsula extending into the Long Island Sound, in the Village of Lloyd Harbor, New York. It is operated by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Pre ...
, via an extended Bethpage and the new Caumsett State Parkway, respectively. Both proposals were not constructed; however, bike paths leading away from both directions of the parkway have been constructed or are under construction. Several scaled-back proposals to extend the Bethpage north have been proposed, including an extension to
NY 25A in
Cold Spring Harbor
Cold Spring Harbor is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Huntington, in Suffolk County, on the North Shore of Long Island in New York. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP population was 5,070.
History
Cold Spri ...
and another to
NY 135 (the Seaford–Oyster Bay Expressway) in
Bethpage.
A bike path was constructed along the Bethpage State Parkway in the 1970s using the alignment once reserved for the southern extension and land along the east side of the current parkway. The
Bethpage Bikeway
The Bethpage Bikeway is a 14.9-mile-long bike trail on Long Island, New York and goes through multiple state parks, notably Bethpage State Park.
History
In the 1930s, the New York State Department of Transportation built the Bethpage State Parkw ...
, was extended from its original northern terminus to the
Long Island Rail Road station in
Syosset
Syosset (also known as Little East Woods or Locust Grove) is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place in the Oyster Bay (town), New York, Town of Oyster Bay, in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Islan ...
. The extension also uses part of the former
Long Island Motor Parkway
The Long Island Motor Parkway, also known as the Vanderbilt Parkway, Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, or Motor Parkway, was a roadway on Long Island, New York, in the United States. It was the first roadway designed for automobile use only. The parkway ...
.
Route description
![Bethpage near Exit B4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Bethpage_near_Exit_B4.jpg)
The Bethpage State Parkway begins at
Southern State Parkway
The Southern State Parkway (also known as the Southern State or Southern Parkway; abbreviated as SO on Road signs in the United States, signage) is a limited-access highway on Long Island, New York (state), New York, in the United States. The pa ...
exit 31, a
trumpet interchange
In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...
located within the
Massapequa Preserve in the
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
of
North Massapequa
North Massapequa is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located on Long Island within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered part of the Greater Massapequa area, which is an ...
. On the southbound Bethpage Parkway, the junction is signed as exit B1. From the Southern State Parkway, the Bethpage proceeds northward through North Massapequa and the
town of Oyster Bay
The Town of Oyster Bay is the easternmost of the three towns which make up Nassau County, New York, United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is the only town in Nassau County to extend from the North Shore to the South Shore o ...
as a two-lane highway, traversing the northwesternmost part of the Massapequa Preserve. The forests of the preserve serve as a buffer between the highway and the dense neighborhoods of North Massapequa, and this setup follows the parkway to exit B2, a northbound-only exit for Boundary Avenue. Heading northbound, the stretch prior to the
exit gore is two lanes wide.
After passing under Boundary Avenue, the Bethpage Parkway bends to the northwest, leaving the Massapequa Preserve but continuing to run across a wooded strip of land in an otherwise heavily developed area. The highway passes through
South Farmingdale
South Farmingdale is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 14,486 at the 2010 census.
The hamlet is a ...
on its way into the
Farmingdale section of Oyster Bay, where it briefly widens to four lanes and begins to curve northward ahead of exit B3, a
partial cloverleaf interchange
A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange.
The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also bee ...
with
NY 24
New York State Route 24 (NY 24) is a east–west state highway on Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. The highway is split into two segments, with the longest and westernmost of the two extending from an interchange with In ...
(Hempstead Turnpike). The southbound cloverleaf ramps connect directly to NY 24, while the northbound ramps use a short section of Beach Street to reach the state route. Continuing northward, the Bethpage State Parkway passes under the
Main Line
Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to:
Transportation
Railway
* Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system
* Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...
of the
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
tracks and enters
Bethpage, where the highway meets Central Avenue at exit B4 just north of the tracks.
While Central Avenue heads west to Bethpage's commercial center, the parkway bends northeastward into
Bethpage State Park
Bethpage State Park is a New York state park on the border of Nassau County and Suffolk County on Long Island. The park contains tennis courts, picnic and recreational areas and a polo field, but is best known for its five golf courses, inclu ...
and connects to Plainview Road and a local park road by way of unsigned exit B5, a
traffic circle
A roundabout is a type of circular intersection (road), intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The N ...
. The Bethpage State Parkway ends here while Plainview Road connects to the nearby Seaford–Oyster Bay Expressway (
NY 135) and the
Bethpage State Golf Course. The entire parkway corridor is served by a bike path that runs along the east side of the Bethpage Parkway, and the path continues northwest from exit B5 along the east side of Plainview Road.
The Bethpage Parkway was ceremoniously designated February 27, 1997 as the Philip B. Healey Memorial Parkway for
Philip B. Healey, a State Assemblyman from
Massapequa
Massapequa (, ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered the anchor community of the Greater Massapequa area. The po ...
who died in May 1996. Healey had served the Massapequa area in the Assembly since 1971.
History
Design and construction
![Bethpage State Parkway - Exit B1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Bethpage_State_Parkway_-_Exit_B1.jpg)
The Bethpage State Parkway was developed as part of a plan proposed by
Robert Moses
Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...
in 1924 that would help people travel in private automobiles from
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
to state parks proposed by the
Long Island State Park Commission
The Long Island State Park Commission was created in 1924 by the New York State Legislature to build and operate parks and parkways on Long Island. Governor Al Smith was appointed as its first President, and Robert Moses, who had drafted the bill ...
(LISPC). Moses, president of the LISPC, saw this as a personal mission, having owned a residence in
Babylon
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
. While the LISPC was formed to get more state parks, Moses was more focused on building roadways to get to them. Development throughout Nassau County had become common: with a 441% increase in population from 1900 to 1930, it was becoming more urgent to secure open land for parks. The agency was given the right to condemn land for these parks, which led to conflict with locals and other agencies who felt it isolated them from getting money in the development craze.
Bethpage State Park was created from land originally owned by
Benjamin Yoakum, a railroad executive. In 1923, Yoakum opened a golf course on the land with 18 holes and a country club. Eight years later, in 1931, the LISPC leased the property from Yoakum. It was made into public land a year later, at which point the property was renamed the Bethpage Golf Club.
On May 24, 1934, the land which had become Bethpage State Park was sold to the LISPC.
In similarity to parkways designed to access
Jones Beach State Park
Jones Beach State Park (colloquially "Jones Beach") is a state park in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located in southern Nassau County, New York, Nassau County on Jones Beach Island, a barrier island linked to Long Island by ...
, Moses designed the Bethpage State Parkway as a road that would have a rustic environment. This would include the use of wooden light posts instead of steel, wooden guide rails, and concrete overpasses designed with a stone face. Along with these designs, Moses also confirmed that the parkways would remain free of commercial vehicles and truck traffic. The parkway was designed with a line of woodlands alongside both lanes. Construction began on the parkway in 1934
even though a date of completion for the rest of the Long Island parkway system—which the Bethpage was intended to connect to—had yet to be established.
On November 14, 1936, the recreational parkway was opened to traffic along with the
Laurelton Parkway Laurelton may refer to:
*Laurelton, Queens, New York City
*Laurelton, New Jersey
Laurelton is an unincorporated community located within Brick Township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States.
Settlement in the area dates back to the years af ...
in Queens.
Automobiles lined up at the Southern State Parkway in North Massapequa to travel the new parkway, which cost a total of $1.05 million (1936 USD). The ceremonial ribbon was cut at noon, after which Moses spoke praise to the federal government for its assistance and discussed how Bethpage State Park was previously inaccessible. The event was followed by a luncheon at the park.
Extensions
During the opening, Moses was already proposing plans to extend the Bethpage southward to
NY 27 and
Merrick Road
Merrick Road is an east–west urban arterial in Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties in New York, United States. It is known as Merrick Boulevard or Floyd H. Flake Boulevard in Queens, within New York City.
Merrick Road runs east from the Queens ...
in Massapequa. The right-of-way for this new parkway was to cross
Massapequa State Park
Massapequa (, ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered the anchor community of the Greater Massapequa area. The po ...
, and as a result, Moses saw no trouble in acquiring the right-of-way. Moses proposed building interchanges at Merrick Road, which would have been a trumpet interchange, and NY 27, which would have been a full cloverleaf. The interchange with the Southern State Parkway would have been upgraded to a full cloverleaf. The design of the extension would be different than that of the original Bethpage Parkway, however, as the designs were refined in the 1950s to make the current parkway and extension a four-lane
divided highway
A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...
instead of the two-lane undivided design used in the 1930s.
In the 1970s, a new bike path was constructed alongside the entire length of the Bethpage State Parkway. The path also continued south to Merrick Road by way of the right-of-way formerly proposed for the Bethpage Parkway's southern extension.
On May 20, 1961, a new parkway was proposed by the LISPC to connect the Northern State Parkway to the proposed
Caumsett State Park
Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve is a state park on Lloyd Neck, a peninsula extending into the Long Island Sound, in the Village of Lloyd Harbor, New York. It is operated by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Pre ...
, the site of a wildlife refuge and arboretum. The parkway would be constructed as a northern extension of the Bethpage State Parkway, using filled land to traverse
Cold Spring Harbor
Cold Spring Harbor is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Huntington, in Suffolk County, on the North Shore of Long Island in New York. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP population was 5,070.
History
Cold Spri ...
. It also required the condemning of a
Standard Oil Company
Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...
tank farm to avoid demolishing high-priced homes, which were to be taken via the three alternate routes proposed.
In 1965, the LISPC proposed that the four-lane parkway wind through Cold Spring Harbor and enter the village of
Lloyd Harbor
Lloyd Harbor is a village in the Town of Huntington in Suffolk County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the village's population was 3,660.
History
In 1654, the Matinecock Native America ...
. Three years later, however, the LISPC said all they proposed was a scenic and landscaped two-lane road in the future. Conservationists of the Caumsett estate worried that the plans were too vague; furthermore, they believed that Caumsett should not be turned into a major-use facility like that of
Jones Beach State Park
Jones Beach State Park (colloquially "Jones Beach") is a state park in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located in southern Nassau County, New York, Nassau County on Jones Beach Island, a barrier island linked to Long Island by ...
on the southern shore.
Extending the Bethpage northward was a requirement for building the new parkway, and four new interchanges were proposed for the Bethpage Parkway. The first, exit B5, would be at
NY 135 (the Seaford–Oyster Bay Expressway). With this new interchange, the traffic circle with Plainview Road in Bethpage State Park would be eliminated. Other junctions included a diamond interchange for Plainview Avenue and Bethpage State Park, a full cloverleaf interchange with
Old Country Road
Old Country Road is a major east–west thoroughfare through central Nassau County and extending into western Suffolk County on Long Island, New York. It serves many of the major shopping centers in central Nassau County including Roosevelt ...
, and a partial cloverleaf interchange with the
Long Island Expressway
Long may refer to:
Measurement
* Long, characteristic of something of great duration
* Long, characteristic of something of great length
* Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate
* Longa (music), note value in early music mensur ...
(then-NY 495). North of there, the new Caumsett exits would be a full cloverleaf interchange with the
Northern State Parkway
The Northern State Parkway (also known as the Northern Parkway or Northern State) is a limited-access state parkway on Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. The western terminus is at the Queens– Nassau County line, where the parkway co ...
, a diamond interchange with
NY 25 (Jericho Turnpike) and an interchange with
NY 25A and
NY 108.
After the NY 25A interchange, the parkway would continue north into Caumsett State Park and end at a traffic circle at the southern end of the park.
In 1990, the Long Island Regional Planning Board proposed a new parkway extension to NY 25A in Cold Spring Harbor as part of a 20-year highway improvement program. However, funding sources were not specified. As part of the Long Island Transportation Plan 2000, the
New York State Department of Transportation
The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in ...
proposed that the Bethpage be extended northwest to NY 135 in Bethpage. In 1987, however, the Long Island Greenbelt Trail Conference proposed that the right-of-way for the Caumsett become part of a new Greenbelt trail. In September 2002, Governor
George Pataki
George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...
announced the opening of
Trail View State Park, a new, linear state park using the former Bethpage and Caumsett right-of-way. The park also included a trail.
The New York State Department of Transportation is currently constructing the Bethpage Bikeway, a multi-use trail extending northward from Bethpage State Park to the
Syosset station on the Long Island Rail Road. Part of the path will use a former alignment of the
Long Island Motor Parkway
The Long Island Motor Parkway, also known as the Vanderbilt Parkway, Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, or Motor Parkway, was a roadway on Long Island, New York, in the United States. It was the first roadway designed for automobile use only. The parkway ...
. The proposed bike trail will cost $6.49 million (2012 USD) and was expected to be completed on July 3, 2012. The contract is slated to expire on December 30, 2012.
The map on the right shows the built segment of the Bethpage State Parkway (black) and the unbuilt segments of the Bethpage Parkway and unbuilt Caumsett Parkway (red).
File:Bethpage Circle.jpg, The Bethpage Parkway's current northern terminus at the traffic circle in Bethpage.
File:Northern State Parkway Exit 38.jpg, Exit 38 on the Northern State Parkway in Plainview, west of where the Bethpage and Caumsett state parkways were to meet.
File:Welcome to Bethpage State Park Bicycle Path.jpg, The Bethpage Bikeway is built along much of the unbuilt extension's route.
Exit list
Caumsett State Parkway extension
If ever built, the Bethpage State Parkway extension to the Caumsett State Parkway would have the following interchanges, beginning at the northern terminus of the Bethpage Parkway. The entire route would have been in
Nassau County.
References
External links
{{NYSR external links, alps=bethpage, termini=bethpage
Bethpage State ParkCaumsett State Historic ParkBethpage Parkway (Greater New York Roads)
Parkways in New York (state)
Roads on Long Island
Robert Moses projects
Two-lane freeways in the United States
Unfinished buildings and structures in the United States
Transportation in Nassau County, New York