New York State Route 27 (NY 27) is a long
state highway that runs east–west from
Interstate 278
Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs from US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey, northeast to the Bruckner Interchange in the New York ...
(I-278) in the
New York City borough
New York City is composed of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of New York State, making New York City the largest U.S. municipality situated in mult ...
of
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
to
Montauk Point State Park
Montauk Point State Park is a state park located in the hamlet of Montauk, at the eastern tip of Long Island in the Town of East Hampton, Suffolk County, New York. Montauk Point is the easternmost extremity of the South Fork of Long Island, ...
on
Long Island,
New York. Its two most prominent components are Sunrise Highway and
Montauk Highway
Montauk Highway is an east–west road extending for across the southern shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It extends from the Nassau County line in Amityville, where it connects to Merrick Road, to Montauk ...
, the latter of which includes the Montauk Point State Parkway. NY 27 acts as the primary east–west highway on southern Long Island east of the interchange with the
Heckscher State Parkway
The Heckscher State Parkway (formerly known as the Heckscher Spur) is an parkway on Long Island, New York, in the United States. The parkway is located entirely within the Suffolk County town of Islip. Although it officially begins at the ...
in
Islip Terrace. The entire route in
Suffolk,
Nassau, and
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
counties were designated by the
New York State Senate as the POW/MIA Memorial Highway. The highway gives access to every town on the
South Shore. NY 27 is the easternmost state route in the state of New York.
NY 27 has service roads that parallel the highway continuously from North Lindenhurst to Patchogue, and intermittently to the east into Southampton. They are officially designated, but not signed, as New York State Route 906C eastbound and New York State Route 906D westbound.
Route description
Prospect Expressway and Linden Boulevard
NY 27 begins at exit 24 of
I-278
Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs from US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey, northeast to the Bruckner Interchange in the New Yor ...
(the
Gowanus Expressway
Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs from US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey, northeast to the Bruckner Interchange in the New York ...
) in the borough of
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. For the first stretch through Brooklyn, NY 27 runs along the Prospect Expressway — a sunken six-lane freeway through the
Park Slope
Park Slope is a neighborhood in northwestern Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park and Prospect Park West to the east, Fourth Avenue to the west, Flatbush A ...
and
Windsor Terrace neighborhoods — providing interchanges with
Fourth Avenue,
Seventh Avenue, and
11th Avenue. At exit 5, eastbound NY 27 leaves the Prospect Expressway, which then interchanges with
Ocean
The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...
and Fort Hamilton Parkways before ending a short distance to the south at exit 6 and Church Avenue.
Eastbound NY 27 follows East 5th Street to Caton Avenue; westbound NY 27 leaves Caton Avenue at Coney Island Avenue, then follows Church Avenue to the Prospect Expressway.
![Prospect Expressway PPW jeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Prospect_Expressway_PPW_jeh.JPG)
NY 27 runs along Caton Avenue near the south end of
Prospect Park. A short distance east, the street merges into
Linden Boulevard
Linden Boulevard is a boulevard in New York City. It starts off at Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn as a one-way street to Caton Avenue, where it becomes a two-way boulevard, and stretches through both Brooklyn and Queens. This boulevard, esp ...
, crossing eastward through Brooklyn on Linden. NY 27 passes east through
East Flatbush
East Flatbush is a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. East Flatbush is bounded by Crown Heights and Empire Boulevard to the north; Brownsville and East 98th Street to the east; Flatlands, Canarsie and the ...
and reaches a large intersection with Kings Highway and Remsen Avenue, where it expands into a six-lane boulevard through Brooklyn with frontage roads. East of East 96th Street, NY 27 intersects
Rockaway Parkway
Rockaway Parkway is a major commercial street in the Canarsie & Brownsville neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York.
Canarsie High School, as well as a firehouse and several homes and businesses are on Rockaway Parkway. The Rockaway Parkway stati ...
and then travels under the
BMT Canarsie Line
The BMT Canarsie Line (sometimes referred to as the 14th Street–Eastern Line) is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway system, named after its terminus in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn. It is served by the ...
, winding through
New Lots before turning northeast. After crossing under a nearby
subway yard, the boulevard passes through the City Line neighborhood. Near the junction with Ruby Street, NY 27 enters the borough of
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, but retains the Linden Boulevard name.
Conduit Avenue
Continuing northeast through Queens, NY 27 and Linden Boulevard enter
Ozone Park
Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens, New York, United States. It is next to the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, a popular spot for Thoroughbred racing and home to the Resorts Wor ...
and reach an interchange with
Conduit Avenue
Conduit Avenue (Conduit Boulevard in Brooklyn) is an arterial road in New York City, the vast majority of which is in Queens. The divided highway runs from Atlantic Avenue in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn to Hook Creek Boulevard in Rosedale, Quee ...
, where Linden Boulevard ends. NY 27 then continues eastward along the divided Conduit Avenues. This portion of the route becomes a controlled access highway, coterminous with the western portion of Nassau Expressway (
NY 878) starting at Cross Bay Boulevard until Aqueduct Road. (When constructed, the portion from Linden Boulevard until what is now Aqueduct Road, was designated Sunrise Highway. This is not to be confused with present Sunrise Highway, which is at the other end of Queens. Sunrise became Conduit at 111th Street, which no longer exists, but is approximately where Aqueduct Road currently crosses over Route 27.)
When the Nassau Expressway splits off, NY 27 continues east along Conduit Avenue and remains a frontage road for multiple exits of the
Belt Parkway. The route interchanges with
I-678 (the Van Wyck Expressway) a short distance later.
NY 27 remains a frontage road entering
Springfield Gardens
Springfield Gardens is a neighborhood in the southeastern area of the New York City borough of Queens, bounded to the north by St. Albans, to the east by Laurelton and Rosedale, to the south by John F. Kennedy International Airport, and to the w ...
, crossing multiple exits of the Belt Parkway until entering
Laurelton. In Laurelton, the Belt Parkway turns northward while NY 27 continues eastbound as South Conduit Avenue and westbound as Sunrise Highway, but stays a seven-lane divided boulevard (four eastbound and three westbound). The route crosses
Francis Lewis Boulevard
Francis Lewis Boulevard is a boulevard in the New York City borough of Queens. The roadway is named for Francis Lewis, a Queens resident who was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. The boulevard zigzags across Queens by inc ...
and south of the
Rosedale Long Island Rail Road station; just east of Hook Creek Boulevard, NY 27 enters
Nassau County and becomes the Sunrise Highway.
Sunrise Highway
![Wantagh aerial 2021](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Wantagh_aerial_2021.jpg)
Sunrise Highway begins as a six to eight-lane arterial highway in eastern Queens, directly paralleling the Atlantic and Babylon branches of the
Long Island Rail Road. It heads east into
Nassau County, passing through
Valley Stream
Valley Stream is a village in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 37,511 at the 2010 census.
The incorporated Village of Valley Stream is within the Town of Hempstead, ...
,
Lynbrook, and
Rockville Centre
Rockville Centre, commonly abbreviated as RVC, is an incorporated village located in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 24,023 at the 2010 census.
Histo ...
on its way to
Merrick. There it connects to the
Meadowbrook State Parkway
The Meadowbrook State Parkway (also known as the Meadowbrook, the Meadowbrook Parkway or the MSP) is a parkway in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. Its southern terminus is at a full cloverleaf interchange with the Bay and Ocean ...
by way of an interchange. NY 27 continues to
Wantagh
Wantagh ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, New York, United States. The population was 18,871 at the time of the 2010 census.
Wantagh is known as "The Gateway to Jones ...
, where it has an interchange with the
Wantagh State Parkway
The Wantagh State Parkway is a long state parkway on Long Island, New York, in the United States. It links the Ocean Parkway in Jones Beach State Park with the Northern State Parkway in Westbury. The parkway is located approximately east of ...
. One mile (1.6 km) later, the highway has an interchange with
NY 135 in
Seaford. In
East Massapequa, NY 27 passes under the LIRR and ends its stretch through Nassau.
NY 27 then enters
Suffolk County, where it veers to the northeast, bypassing
Copiague
Copiague ( ) is a hamlet on Long Island (and census-designated place) in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 23,429 at the 2020 census. Copiague is an unincorporated place within Babylon.
Geography
Copiague is located ...
. At the interchange with
NY 109 in
West Babylon
West Babylon is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Babylon in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 43,213 at the 2010 census.
Geography
West Babylon is located at (40.713399, -73.357106).
West Babylon is bo ...
, Sunrise Highway becomes a six-lane expressway with a two-lane service road on either side. The route then meets 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 ...
near
West Islip. In
East Patchogue, New York
East Patchogue (, ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 22,469 at the 2010 census. The CDP is a proximate representa ...
, the highway is reduced to a four-lane expressway after passing the
NY 112 exit.
Between
County Route 16 (CR 16) in
Brookhaven and
CR 46 in
Shirley
Shirley may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë
* ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film
* ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film
* ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...
, the median is lined with pine trees along South Haven County Park. The setting along these roads is similar to the one on the
Southern State Parkway
The Southern State Parkway (also known as the Southern State or Southern Parkway; abbreviated as SO on signage) is a limited-access highway on Long Island, New York, in the United States. The parkway begins at an interchange with the Belt and C ...
west of
Belmont Lake State Park
Belmont Lake State Park is a day-use state park located in North Babylon, New York on Long Island.
History
Belmont Lake State Park was established in 1926 on land that was formerly part of the " Nursery Stud Farm", a Thoroughbred horse farm owne ...
. The last exit with a state highway is near
Hampton Bays, where it meets
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 ...
.
East of NY 24, Sunrise Highway crosses over the
Shinnecock Canal
The Shinnecock Canal (also known as the Shinnecock and Peconic Canal) is a canal that cuts across the South Fork at Hampton Bays, New York. At long, it connects Great Peconic Bay and the north fork of Long Island with Shinnecock Bay and the A ...
and has one last eastbound exit before merging with
CR 39. It changes names to North Highway, a four-lane undivided highway more commonly known as the Southampton Bypass. The highway continues east near toward
village of Southampton before ending at an intersection with
Montauk Highway
Montauk Highway is an east–west road extending for across the southern shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It extends from the Nassau County line in Amityville, where it connects to Merrick Road, to Montauk ...
. NY 27 turns east at that junction, following Montauk Highway toward
Water Mill
A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production ...
and points east.
Montauk Highway
![NY 27 in Montauk](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/NY_27_in_Montauk.jpg)
The section of Montauk Highway over which NY 27 runs is two lanes wide, with the exception of the four-lane sections in the village of
East Hampton. This section of NY 27 is concurrent with
New York State Bicycle Route 27. NY 27 heads generally northeastward to East Hampton village where it becomes Woods Lane, and later, Main Street. It has an intersection with the southern end of
NY 114 before entering downtown. After passing Newtown Lane and North Main Street, NY 27's name changes to Pantigo Road, as it passes an
eponymous historic district, listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.
In the hamlet of
Amagansett
Amagansett is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet by the same name in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 United States Census, t ...
, NY 27's name changes back to Main Street, again returning to the Montauk Highway name. The road becomes Montauk Point State Parkway as it enters
Hither Hills State Park in
Napeague
Napeague (, ) is a census-designated place (CDP) that roughly corresponds to the hamlet with the same name in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The CDP population was 200 at the 2010 census.
Napeague is locate ...
. The parkway, a
Robert Moses-designed highway, carries NY 27 to its eastern terminus at
Montauk Point State Park
Montauk Point State Park is a state park located in the hamlet of Montauk, at the eastern tip of Long Island in the Town of East Hampton, Suffolk County, New York. Montauk Point is the easternmost extremity of the South Fork of Long Island, ...
, on the east side of
Montauk. The final 10 miles (16 kilometers) of NY 27 is known as Montauk Point State Parkway.
History
Designation and early realignments
NY 27's designation was assigned in the mid-1920s to a road extending from the
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
line to
Amagansett
Amagansett is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet by the same name in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 United States Census, t ...
.
It began at the point where
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 Quee ...
exited
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
and entered
Nassau County. It mostly followed Merrick Road and
Montauk Highway
Montauk Highway is an east–west road extending for across the southern shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It extends from the Nassau County line in Amityville, where it connects to Merrick Road, to Montauk ...
east to Amagansett. From
East Patchogue to
Brookhaven, NY 27 followed South Country Road, passing through the downtown section of the village of
Bellport
Bellport is a village in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 2,084 at the 2010 census.
The Incorporated Village of Bellport is named after the Bell family, ...
.
The NY 27 designation was extended eastward along Montauk Highway to
Montauk Point
Montauk ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, on the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2020 United States census, the CDP's population was 4,318.
The ...
by 1930.
On February 24, 1930, South Country Road was added to the
Suffolk County highway system as
CR 36.
NY 27 was subsequently realigned to follow Montauk Highway between East Patchogue and Brookhaven.
NY 27 was realigned west of
Oakdale to follow Sunrise Boulevard, a new highway parallel to Merrick Road, and then Montauk Highway, between the New York City line and
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 ...
connecting several local roads from Massapequa to Montauk Highway at Oakdale. The former routing of NY 27 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 ...
to Oakdale became
NY 27A, connecting to NY 27 in Massapequa by way of County Line Road.
Sunrise Boulevard was extended eastward to Oakdale as a realignment of NY 27. One portion of NY 27's former route between NY 27A in Massapequa and the Suffolk County line is known as Old Sunrise Highway, and remains state-maintained to this day as NY 900D, an unsigned
reference route.
Sunrise Highway was built over the
Brooklyn Waterworks
The Brooklyn Waterworks, also known as the Milburn Pumping Station, was a historic building in Freeport, Long Island. Designed by noted Brooklyn architect Frank Freeman and completed in 1890, it was described as "Long Island's most ambitious Roma ...
aqueduct, past the south side of
Aqueduct Racetrack.
New York City
In December 1934, the route was extended westward into New York City. NY 27 followed
Sunrise Highway
New York State Route 27 (NY 27) is a long state highway that runs east–west from Interstate 278 (I-278) in the New York City borough of Brooklyn to Montauk Point State Park on Long Island, New York. Its two most prominent com ...
,
Linden Boulevard
Linden Boulevard is a boulevard in New York City. It starts off at Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn as a one-way street to Caton Avenue, where it becomes a two-way boulevard, and stretches through both Brooklyn and Queens. This boulevard, esp ...
, and
Flatbush Avenue
Flatbush Avenue is a major avenue in the New York City Borough of Brooklyn. It runs from the Manhattan Bridge south-southeastward to Jamaica Bay, where it joins the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, which connects Brooklyn to the R ...
through
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
and
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
to the
Manhattan Bridge, where it continued into
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
along
Canal Street to a terminus at
6th Avenue
Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...
(then-
U.S. Route 1A and later
NY 1A).
The route was realigned slightly in the early 1940s to follow Atlantic and Washington Avenues, Eastern Parkway, Buffalo Avenue, and Rockaway Avenue between Flatbush Avenue and Linden Boulevard. NY 27 was again altered in the mid-1960s to continue west on Linden Boulevard, Caton Avenue, and Church Avenue to the south end of the Prospect Expressway. There, the route turned north, following the freeway to its end at the
Gowanus Expressway
Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs from US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey, northeast to the Bruckner Interchange in the New York ...
(then-NY 27A), where NY 27A now ends.
The Prospect Expressway was planned by
Robert Moses, and was constructed during the 1950s.
Prior to 1970, NY 27A continued north to the
Holland Tunnel
The Holland Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel under the Hudson River that connects the New York City neighborhood of Hudson Square in Lower Manhattan to the east with Jersey City in New Jersey to the west. The tunnel is operated by the Port Author ...
in Manhattan by way of the Gowanus Expressway, the
Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel
The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, officially the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel and commonly referred to as the Battery Tunnel or Battery Park Tunnel, is a tolled tunnel in New York City that connects Red Hook in Brooklyn with the Battery in Manhatta ...
, and the
West Side Elevated Highway
The West Side Elevated Highway (West Side Highway or Miller Highway, named for Julius Miller, Manhattan borough president from 1922 to 1930) was an elevated section of New York State Route 9A (NY 9A) running along the Hudson River in the New ...
.
On January 1, 1970, NY 27A was truncated eastward to its current western terminus in Massapequa while NY 27 was extended northward along NY 27A's former route to the Holland Tunnel, where it ends at
I-78
Interstate 78 (I-78) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Northeastern United States, running from I-81 northeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, through Allentown to western and northern New Jersey and terminating at the Holland T ...
and
NY 9A.
By 1973, NY 27 was cut back to its interchange with the Gowanus Expressway while
I-478 was assigned to both the Battery Tunnel and all of the West Side Elevated Highway south of the
Lincoln Tunnel
The Lincoln Tunnel is an approximately tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey, to the west with Midtown Manhattan in New York City to the east. It carries New Jersey Route 495 on the New Jersey side and unsigned Ne ...
.
Long Island
Robert Moses developed plans for an elevated expressway featuring 10 to 12 lanes along Sunrise Highway through Nassau County. This expressway would have provided a truck link for the
South Shore of Long Island but the downtown villages along the route effectively put a stop to the idea.
![NY 109 at NY 27](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/NY_109_at_NY_27.jpg)
The portion of Sunrise Highway between
North Lindenhurst and the
town of Southampton was gradually upgraded to a
limited-access highway
A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...
. At the east end of NY 27 the highway abruptly became a three-lane highway east of the
Shinnecock Canal
The Shinnecock Canal (also known as the Shinnecock and Peconic Canal) is a canal that cuts across the South Fork at Hampton Bays, New York. At long, it connects Great Peconic Bay and the north fork of Long Island with Shinnecock Bay and the A ...
, at the point where NY 27 is concurrent with
CR 39. This area was known as the "Shinnecock Squeeze" as traffic on the two-lane eastbound NY 27 was "squeezed" into a single lane.
In 2006 and 2007 Suffolk County and Southampton officials began using
traffic cone
Traffic cones, also called pylons, witches' hats, road cones, highway cones, safety cones, channelizing devices, construction cones, or just cones, are usually cone-shaped markers that are placed on roads or footpaths to temporarily redirect tra ...
s to
adjust the lanes to accommodate peak travel in what was called the "traffic cone program".
At the end of summer 2007, another eastbound lane was added, heading eastward to North Sea Road. The construction snarled traffic on CR 39. The
Long Island Rail Road added three trains each way between Speonk and East Hampton during the construction. In April 2008, the three-lane segment from North Sea Road to Flying Point Road was reconfigured from one eastbound and two westbound lanes to two eastbound and one westbound lane. The merge from two lanes to one in the eastbound direction is now assisted by a signalized intersection at Flying Point Road, where eastbound NY 27 traffic makes a left turn onto Montauk Highway.
This widening project eliminates the "Shinnecock Squeeze."
Eastward extension
The first proposals for an extension east of the
Shinnecock Canal
The Shinnecock Canal (also known as the Shinnecock and Peconic Canal) is a canal that cuts across the South Fork at Hampton Bays, New York. At long, it connects Great Peconic Bay and the north fork of Long Island with Shinnecock Bay and the A ...
were made in the 1950s. In 1969, the
New York Legislature
The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official te ...
approved a $160 million plan for the extension. It was a limited-access route, flanked by bicycle and equestrian trails. The eastbound and westbound roadways were to be separated by wide wooded medians. For the most part, the road was to run a mile or two north of existing NY 27, thus avoiding the populated centers through which it now passes. The extended Sunrise Highway would have had interchanges with
CR 38 (North Sea Road) and
CR 39 (County Road),
CR 79 (Bridgehampton–Sag Harbor Road),
NY 114 (East Hampton–Sag Harbor Turnpike),
CR 40 (Three Mile Harbor Road), and
CR 45 (Amagansett–Springs Road) before merging back into the existing Montauk Highway. The exits would have been sequentially numbered from 67 to 72. The plan failed, and Governor
Hugh Carey
Hugh Leo Carey (April 11, 1919 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and attorney. He was a seven-term U.S. representative from 1961 to 1974 and the 51st governor of New York from 1975 to 1982. He was a member of the Democratic Part ...
canceled it in 1975. Other suggestions have included building a limited-access road on either side of Long Island Rail Road's
Montauk Branch
The Montauk Branch is a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch runs the length of Long Island, 115 miles (185 km) from Long Island City on the west to Montauk on the east. Howe ...
.
Older interchanges
As Sunrise Highway was upgraded during the 1970s and 1980s many interchanges were redesigned and replaced. The original interchange with 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 ...
in
West Islip had two parkway-style arch bridges over two lanes of NY 27. When the service roads were built in Western Islip Township between 1969 and 1972, parkway-style bridges were added for them as well. The interchanges at Fifth Ave and Brentwood Road in
Bay Shore
Bay Shore is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Islip, New York, United States. It is situated on the South Shore of Long Island, adjoining the Great South Bay. The population of the CDP was 29,244 at the time of the 2020 ...
had parkway-style arch bridges and cloverleaves. When the service roads were added, the parkway-style bridges were removed and replaced with the modern structures that exist today and the original cloverleaves were modified to align with the new service roads.
As with interchanges to the west, Islip Avenue (
NY 111) and Carleton Avenue (
CR 17) in
Islip Terrace originally had parkway-style bridges crossing over Sunrise Highway. However, only Islip Ave had a partial cloverleaf on the west side of the bridge. The eastern side of the bridge used side streets for access, as did both sides of the Carleton Ave bridge. This section of Sunrise Highway wasn't divided. Since 1983, both areas have more modern bridges over the service roads, and the old cross streets connect to those service roads or other side roads instead. Islip Avenue connects to NY 27 at exit 45 while Carleton Avenue meets the Sunrise Highway at exit 46.
Proposed interchanges and crossings
Besides the replacement of interchanges in Western Suffolk County, Sunrise Highway has had proposed interchanges and crossings that were either never built or were built according to alternate design specifications.
In the North Lindenhurst area, plans to construct a
cloverleaf interchange with
CR 2 (Straight Path) in
Copiague
Copiague ( ) is a hamlet on Long Island (and census-designated place) in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 23,429 at the 2020 census. Copiague is an unincorporated place within Babylon.
Geography
Copiague is located ...
have existed for some time. In recent years, planners have realized that such an interchange would be too close to the cloverleafs with
CR 47 (Great Neck Road) to the west and
CR 3 (Wellwood Road) to the east. To further complicate matters, a widened
CR 28 was extended to Sunrise Highway near the Straight Path intersection in the late-1980s. To date, no interchange has been built for this area.
The Oakdale Merge is a convergence of
Sunrise Highway
New York State Route 27 (NY 27) is a long state highway that runs east–west from Interstate 278 (I-278) in the New York City borough of Brooklyn to Montauk Point State Park on Long Island, New York. Its two most prominent com ...
and
Montauk Highway
Montauk Highway is an east–west road extending for across the southern shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It extends from the Nassau County line in Amityville, where it connects to Merrick Road, to Montauk ...
between
Great River and
Oakdale abutting the southern edge of
Connetquot River State Park. The Montauk Highway predates the Sunrise Highway in the area. When Sunrise Highway was extended east of Amityville in 1940, it terminated at Montauk Highway's entrance to Connetquot River State Park.
In 1953, Sunrise Highway was extended to East Patchogue; a overlap of NY 27 and
NY 27A was created, with
at-grade At-grade may refer to:
* At-grade intersection, a crossing between roads on the same level
* Road junction
*Level crossing, where a road or path crosses a railway on the same level
* Diamond crossing, where two railway tracks cross
* At-grade railwa ...
intersections connecting the highways. A segment of this alignment remains south of the eastern interchange.
NY 27A was truncated east of the overlap in 1972.
Plans to upgrade the interchange have existed since its creation.
During the early-1960s, the Suffolk County Department of Public Works considered designating a county highway to connect
Nicolls Road in Lake Grove through the Long Island MacArthur Airport, then on to the east end of the merge. As recently as 1981, the
New York State Department of Transportation planned to add service roads and a proper interchange at both ends of the merge. Pressure from environmental groups seeking to avoid damaging the parkland stalled construction. NYSDOT eventually reconstructed Sunrise Highway in eastern Islip township into a freeway during the 1990s, resulting in the present configuration.
The entrance to Connetquot River Park remained as an at-grade intersection, accessible only from the westbound lane. Former segments of Montauk Highway now exist on both sides of the interchange, and sections of both roads were converted into fishing areas owned by the
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Numerous accidents occurred at the east end of the merge, resulting in its reconstruction in 1999. A new off-ramp to the service road for Pond Road was built, resulting in renumbering of exit 47 to exit 46A.
While none of the interchanges north of
Patchogue were built until 1988 to 1993, the
New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) had known the need for them and had planned them decades before their eventual construction. As an example, Waverly Avenue (
CR 19) was originally proposed as a cloverleaf interchange. Today, exit 52 with CR 19 is a
diamond interchange
A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road.
Design
The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. Approaching the ...
instead.
North Ocean Avenue (
CR 83) was originally proposed to be accessible via connecting ramps to side streets including Austin Street along the eastbound lane and Sinn Street along the westbound lane. Today, exit 53A is a half-diamond interchange while Austin Street and Howard Street are now dead-end streets, and Sinn Street never reached North Ocean Avenue.
Maple Avenue had crossed the median on NY 27 between North Ocean Avenue and NY 112 until 1975. This road could also have been used as a connecting ramp to both roads. Today, the north section only intersects the westbound
service road
A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private drivew ...
, while the south section was converted into a dead-end street north of Austin Street.
NY 112 was originally proposed to be accessible via connecting ramps to side streets such as Franklin Street along the eastbound lane and an extension of Sinn Street along the westbound lane.
Sinn Street was acquired by NYSDOT east of NY 112 in the early-1960s, and was gradually abandoned.
Today, exit 53 is a diamond interchange, and Sinn Street, Austin Street, and Franklin Street are now dead-end streets. Originally there were proposals to connect Washington Avenue and Phyllis Drive via ramps to side streets such as Franklin Street along the eastbound lane, and to an extension of Sinn Street along the westbound lane.
Phyllis Drive was once part of NY 27 until Sunrise Highway was extended to
Eastport in 1957.
Today, both roads are only accessible via the service roads. Some residents are waiting for a potential
pedestrian bridge
A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...
connecting the two ends of Washington Avenue.
West of the
Carmans River
The Carmans River is a long river in Brookhaven, New York in Suffolk County on Long Island.
It is one of the four largest rivers on Long Island and is similar to other Long Island rivers in that is totally groundwater generated (e.g., no lak ...
near
Southaven County Park
Southaven County Park is located in South Haven and Yaphank, New York in central Long Island. It is located between Sunrise Highway ( Route 27) just west of William Floyd Parkway, off of Victory Avenue ( Suffolk CR 56/North Sunrise Service Road) ...
in
South Haven, there was a plan to combine the eastbound service road with
Montauk Highway
Montauk Highway is an east–west road extending for across the southern shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It extends from the Nassau County line in Amityville, where it connects to Merrick Road, to Montauk ...
, similar to the
Oakdale Merge
New York State Route 27 (NY 27) is a long state highway that runs east–west from Interstate 278 (I-278) in the New York City borough of Brooklyn to Montauk Point State Park on Long Island, New York. Its two most prominent com ...
.
NY 27A
NY 27A () is an alternate route of NY 27 across southern
Long Island from
Massapequa Park
Massapequa Park is a village and hamlet located within the town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 17,008 at the 2010 census.
Areas south and east of the village bo ...
to
Oakdale, accessing
Babylon and
Islip
Islip may refer to:
Places England
* Islip, Northamptonshire
*Islip, Oxfordshire
United States
*Islip, New York, a town in Suffolk County
** Islip (hamlet), New York, located in the above town
**Central Islip, New York, a hamlet and census-d ...
.
It was designated NY 27A .
Major intersections
See also
References
External links
The traffic circle at the eastern terminus of NY 27 at Montauk PointNYC Roads article on NY 27NY 27 (Greater New York Roads)NYCroads.com – Prospect Expressway (NY 27)NYSDOT – Gowanus Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:New York State Route 027
027
O scale (or O gauge) is a scale commonly used for toy trains and rail transport modelling. Introduced by German toy manufacturer Märklin around 1900, by the 1930s three-rail alternating current O gauge was the most common model railroad scal ...
Roads on Long Island
Transportation in Nassau County, New York
Transportation in Suffolk County, New York
East Hampton (town), New York
Streets in Queens, New York
Expressways in New York City
Limited-access roads in New York (state)
Transportation in Brooklyn