Part of Sunrise Highway service road in Suffolk to be repaved, state says

Long Island will receive $7 million as part of a $100 million project to repave state highways across New York impacted by extreme weather, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday.

The Sunrise Highway south service road between Pond Road and Nicolls Road in the Town of Islip is one of 70 locations in the state to be updated, according to a news release.

"Between extreme heat in the summer, devastating winter storms and the ongoing saga of freeze-thaw cycles, New York’s roads take a pounding from extreme weather in all seasons, and this investment takes direct aim at rejuvenating some of the State highways most impacted by extreme weather," Hochul said in the release. "Keeping our infrastructure in a state of good repair is a sound investment that not only increases resiliency but spurs economic development and tourism across New York."

The project will begin next spring and is supported by the Infrastructure and Jobs Act.

Across the state, 551 lane miles of highways will be repaired.

“This initiative will ensure the safety of the traveling public not only in our town, but across the state,” Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter said.

In New York City, $4 million will be used to resurface the Jackie Robinson Parkway westbound between Central Avenue and Grand Central Parkway/Van Wyck Expressway.

The announcement comes months after Hochul announced that five state roads across Long Island will be repaved in the next two years.

In Suffolk, portions of Robert Moses Causeway between Montauk Highway and Ocean Parkway in Islip, Veterans Memorial Highway between Jericho Turnpike and Old Willets Path in Smithtown, and Middle Country Road between Patchogue-Mount Sinai Road and Mount Sinai-Coram Road in Brookhaven will be repaved by the end of the month. 

In Nassau, construction crews will start and finish paving projects on portions of two roadways next year in Hempstead: Meadowbrook State Parkway between Sunrise Highway and Merrick Road; and Newbridge Road between Jerusalem Avenue and Hempstead Turnpike.

Newsday previously reported that infrastructure and climate experts said Long Island's roads — many of which were designed a century ago — are not equipped to handle the severity of major rainstorms linked to climate change like the one that caused severe flooding in parts of Suffolk County in August.