The Great South Bay Bridge is a bridge on the southwest side of

Suffolk County, New York Suffolk County () is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York. It is mainly located on the eastern end of Long Island, but also includes several smaller islands. According to the 2020 United States census, the county's populatio ...

, 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 ...

. It connects the

Robert Moses Causeway The Robert Moses Causeway is an parkway in Suffolk County, New York on Long Island. The parkway, originally known as the Captree Causeway, connects West Islip on Long Island to the barrier beach islands, such as Captree Island, Jones Beach I ...

from Long Island's mainland over the

Great South Bay The Great South Bay is a lagoon situated between Long Island and Fire Island, in the State of New York. It is about long and has an average depth of 4 feet 3 inches and is 20 feet at its deepest. It is protected from the Atlantic Ocean by Fire Is ...

, connecting to Captree and Jones Beach islands. It serves as access via the Robert Moses Causeway to both of the downstream crossings, the

State Boat Channel Bridge The State Boat Channel Bridge is a bascule bridge (drawbridge) in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It crosses over the Long Island New York State Boat Channel connecting Captree Island and Jones Beach Island on Robert Moses Causeway in the ...

and the

Fire Island Inlet Bridge The Fire Island Inlet Bridge, an integral part of the Robert Moses Causeway, is a two-lane, steel tied arch span with a concrete deck that carries the parkway over Fire Island Inlet. Construction of the Fire Island Bridge was completed in 1964 ...

, also leading visitors and on-lookers to either the

Fire Island Lighthouse The Fire Island Lighthouse is a visible landmark on the Great South Bay, in southern Suffolk County, New York on the western end of Fire Island, a barrier island off the southern coast of Long Island. The lighthouse is located within Fire Islan ...

or the Robert Moses State Park.

History

The bridge was originally a single span, that opened in 1954 and was called the Captree Bridge. Today it carries southbound traffic. In 1964, a second parallel span opened to traffic and carried northbound traffic. This brought much needed relief to traffic heading back from Jones Beach, Robert Moses, and Captree parks. The bridges are through trusses and are painted a traditional "bridge green". In 1997, a major rebuild of the deck of the older span began and was completed in 2000. Safety compliant railings were installed on the older span. In 2013–2014, the northbound span received upgraded railings. Major improvements NYSDOT is considering is a cycle/pedestrian path shared with the northbound lanes. NYSDOT has not released any official plans.

References

External links

Great South Bay Bridge (Weather Underground.com)Great South Bay Bridge (Historic Bridges of the United States)Robert Moses Causeway @ NYCRoads.com
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, bridge = Great South Bay Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream text = West , upstream =

Jones Beach Causeway Jones may refer to: People *Jones (surname), a common Welsh and English surname *List of people with surname Jones *Jones (singer), a British singer-songwriter Arts and entertainment * Jones (''Animal Farm''), a human character in George Orwell' ...

, upstream signs = , downstream text = East , downstream =

Smith Point Bridge The Smith Point Bridge is a steel bascule drawbridge in Shirley, New York that connects Long Island to Fire Island. Located on the south shore of central Suffolk County, the bridge carries William Floyd Parkway (Suffolk CR 46) across The Narrow ...

, downstream signs = Bridges on Long Island Road bridges in New York (state) Truss bridges in the United States Metal bridges in the United States Bridges in Suffolk County, New York

History

See also

References

External links