State DOT Will Construct New Sunrise Highway Exit In 2021

A sea of red brake lights typically greets drivers as they approach the exit for the William Floyd Parkway, currently the only access point to the bustling hamlets of Mastic, Mastic Beach and Shirley from Sunrise Highway.

But that is expected to change in 2021 with the construction of new on and off ramps just to the east, where Sunrise Highway intersects with Barnes Road, on the Mastic-Moriches border, according to State Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr.

He explained that the estimated $4.2 million project will be funded with a $5 million appropriation within the 2017 state budget. The work was approved after two independent traffic studies—one completed by the Town of Brookhaven in 2010 and the other by the State Department of Transportation in 2011—raised several concerns regarding ongoing congestion and the inability for people who live on the peninsula to evacuate during emergencies, such as hurricanes.

“To really evacuate would be almost impossible,” Mr. Thiele said, referring to such emergencies.

The studies were completed roughly a decade after area residents began calling for the creation of a second access point to the tri-hamlet communities along the Sunrise Highway corridor. The next-closest exit for those heading eastbound on Sunrise is the Wading River Road exit in Center Moriches that sits more than 3.5 miles to the east.

The new Barnes Road exit, when completed, would fall between Exit 58 for the William Floyd Parkway in Shirley and Exit 59 for Wading River Road in Center Moriches.

According to a recent press release, the DOT is in the process of procuring a consultant to prepare a Design Approval Document, or DAD, which will help identify any potential environmental or right of way issues with the project.

“The residents of the tri-hamlet community can now breathe a little easier knowing that soon their access to Sunrise Highway will be greatly improved,” Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine said in the same press release.