Southern State Parkway

Southern State Parkway
Reference Route 908M
Length:	25.53 mi[1] (41.09 km)
Formed:	1927[2]
West end:	Belt Pkwy/Cross Island Pkwy in Valley Stream
Major junctions:	Meadowbrook Pkwy in North Merrick Wantagh Pkwy in North Wantagh NY 135 in Wantagh Robert Moses Cswy in East Islip
East end:	Heckscher/Sagtikos Pkwy in East Islip
Counties:	Nassau, Suffolk
Numbered highways in New York Interstate – U.S. – N.Y. (former) – Reference

The Southern State Parkway (also known as the Southern State or the Southern Parkway) is a 25.53-mile (41.09 km) long east-west limited-access highway on Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. The western terminus of the parkway is at an interchange with the Belt and Cross Island Parkways in Elmont, Town of Hempstead, NY adjacent to the New York City line. The eastern terminus is at the Heckscher State Parkway in East Islip. The Southern State Parkway comprises the western portion of New York State Reference Route 908M (an unsigned reference route assigned by NYSDOT), with the Heckscher occupying the eastern section. As its name implies, the Parkway services communities along the southern half of the island.

Troop L of the New York State Police, based at Republic Airport in East Farmingdale patrol all of Long Island's parkways.

The directional counterpart to the Southern, the Northern State Parkway, runs roughly parallel to the Southern approximately 7 miles (11 km) to the north. Both of these roads, along with other parkways in New York State, prohibit trucks and other large commercial vehicles.

Route description

Overheads at the western end of the parkway.

The Southern State Parkway travels east from the New York City/Nassau County border at Elmont passing Valley Stream, Hempstead Lake, Belmont Lake state parks, and ending at its eastern terminus at NY27, Sunrise Highway, where the Southern State becomes the Heckscher Parkway, which continues several more miles to the ocean-front Heckscher State Park.

The Southern Parkway's first exit at Elmont is listed as Exit 13. The Cross Island Parkway once began the exit numbering scheme at the Whitestone Bridge as exit 1 and continued east on the Southern State before the construction of the Belt Parkway. The Cross Island Parkway's exit numbering scheme was changed to match the Belt Parkway's easterly number progression from the Belt's start at the Gowanus Expressway to the current Cross Island's terminus, now exit 36 at the Whitestone Bridge.

Originally constructed as a four-lane parkway similar to the Northern State, the Southern Parkway was widened in the early 1950s to eight lanes from the City line to Hempstead Lake, and six lanes eastward from there. Since the Southern State was originally conceived as a "linear park" to connect Jones Beach and other state parks with the city, it was built in a meandering style appropriate for the low speeds and traffic density of the day. Cut-stone faced concrete-arched overpasses were purposely constructed with low clearances for both aesthetic reasons and to ensure that commercial truck and bus traffic would never be allowed access to the parkway system.

Of interest is the original route of the Southern State at Hempstead Lake. Before the current fill that carries the present day parkway across the lake was built, travelling eastbound before Eagle Avenue, the parkway veered sharply to the right, continued on what now is the park road in Hempstead Lake Park, crossed the dam at the southern end of Hempstead Lake, and turned sharply left on Peninsula Blvd. The divided section of Peninsula Blvd. next to Hempstead Lake Park is actually the old Southern State Parkway, which was abandoned for a number of years until Nassau County bought the roadway in the late 1940s.

The Southern State is notorious to locals, specifically in Nassau County, for its sharp curves. The section of the parkway between Exit 17 (Hempstead Avenue) and Exit 32 (NY 110) is nicknamed "Blood Alley," by locals, as the lack of adequate acceleration and deceleration lanes, numerous bends in the road, and aggressive drivers often travelling at speeds in excess of the posted limit have caused a number of fatal accidents, making it one of the more dangerous stretches of highway on Long Island.^[3] Roadway improvements in the 1980s including a continuous median guardrail and enhanced super-elevation of curves have helped to reduce deadly "cross-over" crashes and improved safety, but excessive speed is the number one factor causing most crashes.

Holiday travellers during the summer months clog the parkway as they journey to Jones Beach ocean parks and resort-destinations such as Fire Island and the Hamptons. Following the post-war development of Long Island, the Southern State has morphed from a roadway for lazy Sunday drives to a major weekday commuter artery, with the traffic delays to match.

History

Construction began in 1925 under the direction of Robert Moses, for the purpose of improving access to Jones Beach. The land used had originally been a conduit path for water, owned by Brooklyn. The first section of the parkway, eastward from the Queens-Nassau county line, opened in 1927. By 1932, the four-lane, undivided road extended to Suffolk County. Further extensions used more modern road construction principles. It reached its originally planned eastern terminus (Bay Shore Road) in 1949, and its current eastern terminus (Heckscher State Parkway) in 1962. Following the post-war housing boom on Long Island, the parkway has been widened and straightened in numerous places to serve commuters traveling at speeds unanticipated when the road was first constructed.^[4]

Just east of Exit 32, a service area used to operate beneath the underpass of Suffolk CR 47 (Great Neck Road) until 1985.^[5] Exit 32 which is for New York State Route 110 also once included CR 47.^[6] Another service area was once located between exits 17 and 18.^{[citation needed]} Lastly, there were once toll booths located on the parkway between Exits 13 and 14 near its western terminus at the Cross Island Parkway until 1978, although many road maps covered the toll booths until the early-to-mid-1980s.^[5][7]

Exit list

County	Location	Mile[1]	#	Destinations	Notes
Nassau	North Valley Stream	Southern State Parkway westbound becomes the Belt Parkway.
		0.00		Cross Island Parkway north	Southern terminus of Cross Island Parkway.
		0.58	13S-N	Central Avenue/Linden Boulevard – Valley Stream, Elmont	Single exit 13 westbound.
		1.55	14	North Fletcher Avenue – Valley Stream	No westbound exit. To Valley Stream State Park
			15A	Valley Stream State Park	Eastbound exit only.
		2.23	15S-N	Corona Avenue	Single exit 15 eastbound. To Franklin Avenue (eastbound).
			16	Franklin Avenue	Westbound exit, eastbound entrance.
	Malverne Park Oaks	3.56	17S-N	Hempstead Avenue – West Hempstead, Malverne
	Lakeview	4.72	18	Eagle Avenue	To Hempstead Lake State Park
	South Hempstead	5.38	19S-N	Peninsula Boulevard – Hempstead, Rockville Centre
		6.37	20S-N	Baldwin Road/Grand Avenue
	Roosevelt	7.55	21	Nassau Road – Hempstead, Freeport
	North Merrick	8.55	22S-N	Meadowbrook State Parkway – Jones Beach, Mineola
		9.06	23	Meadowbrook Road
		9.31	24S-N	Merrick Avenue – Westbury, Merrick
	North Bellmore	10.60	25S-N	NY 106 – East Meadow, Bellmore	To Nassau University Medical Center.
			26	Bellmore Road	Eastbound exit and entrance.
	North Wantagh	11.77	27S-N	Wantagh State Parkway – Westbury, Jones Beach
		12.50	28S-N	Wantagh Avenue – Levittown, Wantagh
	Wantagh	13.35	28A S-N	NY 135 – Seaford, Syosset
	North Massapequa	13.79	29S-N	NY 107 (Hicksville Road) – Hicksville, Massapequa	Single exit 29 eastbound.
		14.94	30S-N	Broadway – Massapequa, Farmingdale
		15.38	31	Bethpage State Parkway north/Linden Street – Massapequa Park, Bethpage State Park	Exit B1 (Bethpage Pkwy). Southern terminus of Bethpage Parkway. No access to Linden Street westbound.
Suffolk	North Amityville	16.88	32S-N	NY 110 – Huntington, Amityville	CR 1 (County Line Road) accessible via exit 32S eastbound.
	North Lindenhurst	18.30	33	NY 109 – Farmingdale, West Babylon	Same-direction connections only.
			34	CR 28 (New Highway)	Exit only westbound, use NY 109 for re-entry. Parclo interchange eastbound.
		19.03	35	CR 3 (Wellwood Avenue) – Lindenhurst
	West Babylon	20.12	36S-N	CR 2 (Straight Path) - Lindenhurst, Wyandanch
		21.73	37S-N	CR 107 (Belmont Avenue) – West Babylon
	North Babylon	22.12	38	Belmont Lake State Park	Parclo interchange with eastbound loop ramps.
		23.06	39S-N	NY 231 (Deer Park Avenue) – Deer Park, Babylon
	West Islip	24.87	40	Robert Moses Causeway south – Ocean Beaches	End westbound local/express lane setup—traffic merges into 3 lanes after this exit.
			41S-N	CR 57 (Bay Shore Road) – Bay Shore, Deer Park	Begin westbound local/express lane (2-2) setup before this exit.
		25.53	41A	Sagtikos State Parkway north – Sunken Meadow State Park, Kings Park
		Southern State Parkway eastbound becomes the Heckscher State Parkway.

References

External links

• Interchange of the Week; Monday, March 19, 2001 (Empire State Roads)
• Southern Parkway (Greater New York Roads)