Sunken Meadow State Parkway

Sunken Meadow State Parkway
Route information
Length:	6.19 mi[1] (9.96 km)
Major junctions
South end:	Northern Parkway / Sagtikos Parkway in Smithtown
	NY 454 in East Commack NY 25 in East Commack NY 25A in Kings Park
North end:	Sunken Meadow State Park in Kings Park
Location
Counties:	Suffolk
Highway system
Numbered highways in New York Interstate • U.S. • N.Y. (former) • Reference • County

The Sunken Meadow State Parkway (also known as The Sunken Meadow) is a 6.19-mile (9.96 km) long north–south parkway on Long Island in New York. All six miles (10 km) of the parkway are located in the Suffolk County town of Smithtown. The southern terminus of the route is at the Northern State Parkway, where it continues southward as the Sagtikos State Parkway. The northern terminus is at the Sunken Meadow State Park toll barrier. The parkway comprises the northern half of New York State Route 908K (an unsigned reference route), with the Sagtikos State Parkway forming the southern portion. Except for the short section north of NY 25A, commercial vehicles are restricted from using the highway, a restriction in place on most parkways in New York State.

Route description

From the beginning at the Northern State-Sagtikos State Parkway interchange to the toll booth at Sunken Meadow State Park, Sunken Meadow State Parkway is a four-lane divided parkway, with greenery that lives up to its name. The median widens between Northern State Parkway and Veterans Memorial Highway, and is widest between Exits SM 3A and Exits SM 4-E-W. Near Kings Park a cloverleaf interchange is tightly squeezed between the Port Jefferson Branch of the Long Island Rail Road and Pulaski Road, which it serves. The next and last cloverleaf interchange is for New York State Route 25A. Between the north-to-westbound off-ramp and west-to-northbound on-ramp, a toll gate exists for the entrance to Sunken Meadow State Park, which also serves the on ramp from westbound NY 25A.

North of the Sunken Meadow Park entrance, is the access road for Parking Lot #5, which also once served as the eastern entrance to Sunken Meadow State Park. At some point, the divider ends within the park. A Parks Department maintenance yard exists at the foot of the bridge over Sunken Meadow (St. Johnland) Road with driveways to both the Parkway and the road below it. Mapmakers have often mistaken it for an on-off ramp. After crossing over Sunken Meadow Road,passing by Parking Lot #4, and later over Sunken Meadow Creek, the road intersects with Naples Avenue, which was once proposed to be transformed into the Sound Shore Parkway. Instead it leads to the park's golf course and Parking Lot #3. As the road divides Parking Lots #2 and #1, it finally ends at a traffic circle in front of the Bathhouse.

History

Like the Heckscher State Parkway, it originally began as an entrance to the Sunken Meadow State Park and was known as the Sunken Meadow Spur. The difference however, was that the Sunken Meadow Spur had two entrances from NY 25A which converged on a bridge over Sunken Meadow Road and Sunken Meadow Creek, a branch of the Nissequogue River.^[2](40°53′45″N 73°15′51″W / 40.8959°N 73.264217°W / 40.8959; -73.264217^[3]) The rest of the Parkway was added onto the west entrance during the 1950s. The extended section finally opened in 1957.^[4] The east entrance which went through Parking Area #5 remained opened after the interchange was built^[5] but was closed to traffic from NY 25A in the 1970s.

The south end of the parkway was built where an old Parkway service area used to be. The service area was in the median at the terminus of Sagtikos State Parkway and the former terminus of Northern State Parkway.

In 1978, a new interchange (Exit SM 3A) was built in order to improve access to Indian Head & Harned Roads (Suffolk CR 14), in an effort to reduce congestion and accidents for traffic accessing these roads at Exit SM 3E (NY 25). The northbound entrance ramp was moved north of this newer exit ramp, and is utilized by traffic from both NY 25 & SCR 14. However, congestion for north-to-eastbound motorists still exists since Exit SM 3E is close to the NY 25-SCR 14 intersection.

Exit list

The entire route is in Smithtown, Suffolk County.

Mile[1]	Exit	Destinations	Notes
0.00		Sagtikos Parkway	Continuation beyond Northern Parkway
	SM1 W-E	Northern Parkway – New York, Hauppauge
1.67	SM2	NY 454 (Veterans Memorial Highway) – Hauppauge, Patchogue	To NY 347; northbound exit and southbound entrance
2.07	SM3 E-W	NY 25 (Jericho Turnpike) – South Huntington, Smithtown
	SM3A	CR 14 (Indian Head Road) – Kings Park	Northbound exit and entrance
5.07	SM4 E-W	CR 11 (Pulaski Road) – Huntington Station, Kings Park
6.07	SM5 E-W	NY 25A (Fort Salonga Road) – Huntington, Smithtown	All trucks and buses must exit here southbound, trucks and buses may enter here northbound
6.19	Sunken Meadow State Park toll barrier
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

New York Roads portal

1. ^ ^{a b} "2007 Traffic Data Report for New York State" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. July 25, 2008. https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/NYSDOT_Traffic_Data_Report_2007.pdf. Retrieved July 17, 2009. 
2. ^ Old Hagstroms Long Island and Suffolk County Maps^{[clarification needed]}
3. ^ Sunken Meadow State Park; Parking Lot #5 (WikiMapia)
4. ^ "L.I. Parkway Link Will Open Today; New Spur Connects Shore and Northern State Parkway". The New York Times: p. 27. April 1, 1957. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10F16F6355A137A93C3A9178FD85F438585F9. Retrieved April 24, 2010. 
5. ^ Hagstrom Map (1957). Atlas of Western Suffolk County, New York (Map). 

External links

• Sunken Meadow State Parkway Article from NYCROADS.com
• Sunken Meadow State Park
• Nissequogue River State Park