{"id":349750,"date":"2026-09-17T23:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T23:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/349750\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T23:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T23:48:09","slug":"officials-push-sunrise-highway-widening-near-riverhead-gateway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/349750\/","title":{"rendered":"Officials push Sunrise Highway widening near Riverhead gateway"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNew York State Senator Dean Murray, 3rd Senate District spoke about the Rt. 27 expansion project, taking the existing two-lane road and creating a third lane from exits 53 to 59. (Screenshot from Mr. Murray\u2019s Instagram)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Eastern Long Island\u2019s growing traffic and development have sparked a push to widen a 10-mile stretch of Sunrise Highway \u2014 a gateway to the East End.<\/p>\n

State and Suffolk County officials, along with contractors, labor representatives and first responders, are calling for\u00a0a third lane in each direction between Exit 53 and Exit 59 on the traffic-clogged roadway.<\/p>\n

The proposed expansion would extend the existing three-lane section of Sunrise Highway\u00a0east from Route 112 in Patchogue to Wading River Road in Manorville. Officials say population growth since the COVID-19 pandemic has placed additional strain on the region\u2019s transportation network.<\/p>\n

Supporters say the project would ease congestion and improve travel for commuters, businesses and first responders.<\/p>\n

\u201cInvesting in our infrastructure is vital to our workforce and our future,\u201d\u00a0State Sen. Dean Murray said at a Tuesday press conference in Patchogue.\u00a0\u201cEastern Long Island has changed dramatically over the past several years, and our infrastructure needs to keep pace with that growth. Sunrise Highway is a critical artery for our residents, workers, businesses, and first responders. Adding a third lane in both directions between Exit 53 and Exit 59 will help improve traffic flow, enhance safety, create jobs, and support the continued growth of our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plan\u00a0has drawn support from Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, county Legislative Presiding Officer Anthony Piccirillo and other local officials.<\/p>\n

Labor leaders also backed the proposal, citing the importance of reliable transportation\u00a0for workers, businesses and the regional economy.<\/p>\n

Riverhead Highway Superintendent Mike Zaleski said the proposed widening stops short of town limits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWading River-Manorville Road begins Riverhead jurisdiction north of the expressway,\u201d Mr. Zaleski said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York State Senator Dean Murray, 3rd Senate District spoke about the Rt. 27 expansion project, taking the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10,49,51,50,61554],"class_list":["post-349750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-sunrise-highway"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}