The
Ocean Parkway is a long state
parkwayIn the United States, Parkways are defined as follows:#A type of road##A broad landscaped thoroughfare; especially : one from which trucks and other heavy vehicles are excluded.##A roadway in a park : a landscaped thoroughfare connecting parks...
that traverses
Jones Beach IslandJones Beach Island is a barrier island off the southern coast of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. It is named for the father of Thomas Jones. It is sometimes referred to as Oak Beach Island, and the former home of the infamous Oak Beach Inn. It is separated from Long Island by Great...
between
Jones Beach State ParkJones Beach State Park is a state park of the U.S. state of New York. It is located in southern Nassau County, in the hamlet of Wantagh, on Jones Beach Island, a barrier island linked to Long Island by the Meadowbrook State Parkway, Wantagh State Parkway and Ocean Parkway .The park is renowned for...
and
Captree State ParkCaptree State Park is a state park in Suffolk County, New York in the USA.The park is located on the easternmost end of Jones Island
http://www.nysparks.com/parks/65/details.aspx
, and overlooks the Fire Island Inlet and the westernmost section of Fire Island, partly in the...
on
Long IslandLong Island is an island located in southeastern New York, United States, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City, and two of which are mainly suburban...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The Ocean Parkway begins at the southern terminus of the
Meadowbrook State ParkwayThe Meadowbrook State Parkway is a long parkway in Nassau County, New York. The southern terminus is at the Bay Parkway in Jones Beach State Park, where the parkway becomes the Ocean Parkway. The northern terminus is at the Northern State Parkway in Carle Place...
, intersects the south end of the
Wantagh State ParkwayThe Wantagh State Parkway is a state parkway on Long Island, New York that links the Ocean Parkway at Jones Beach State Park with the Northern State Parkway in Westbury. It is unsigned New York State Reference Route 908T. The parkway is located approximately east of Manhattan and east of the...
, and ends just past the southern terminus of the
Robert Moses CausewayThe Robert Moses Causeway is an long parkway in Suffolk County, New York. The parkway, originally known as the Captree Causeway, connects West Islip on Long Island to the barrier beach islands, such as Captree Island, Jones Beach Island, and the western tip of Fire Island, to the south. It is...
. It is designated
New York State Reference Route 909D, an unsigned reference route.
It is one of the more unusual parkways of Long Island, with most of its exits not being to
freewayA freeway is a type of road designed for safer high-speed operation of motor vehicles through the elimination of at-grade intersections. This is accomplished by preventing access to and from adjacent properties and eliminating all cross traffic through the use of grade separations and...
standards.
The
Ocean Parkway is a long state
parkwayIn the United States, Parkways are defined as follows:#A type of road##A broad landscaped thoroughfare; especially : one from which trucks and other heavy vehicles are excluded.##A roadway in a park : a landscaped thoroughfare connecting parks...
that traverses
Jones Beach IslandJones Beach Island is a barrier island off the southern coast of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. It is named for the father of Thomas Jones. It is sometimes referred to as Oak Beach Island, and the former home of the infamous Oak Beach Inn. It is separated from Long Island by Great...
between
Jones Beach State ParkJones Beach State Park is a state park of the U.S. state of New York. It is located in southern Nassau County, in the hamlet of Wantagh, on Jones Beach Island, a barrier island linked to Long Island by the Meadowbrook State Parkway, Wantagh State Parkway and Ocean Parkway .The park is renowned for...
and
Captree State ParkCaptree State Park is a state park in Suffolk County, New York in the USA.The park is located on the easternmost end of Jones Island
http://www.nysparks.com/parks/65/details.aspx
, and overlooks the Fire Island Inlet and the westernmost section of Fire Island, partly in the...
on
Long IslandLong Island is an island located in southeastern New York, United States, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City, and two of which are mainly suburban...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The Ocean Parkway begins at the southern terminus of the
Meadowbrook State ParkwayThe Meadowbrook State Parkway is a long parkway in Nassau County, New York. The southern terminus is at the Bay Parkway in Jones Beach State Park, where the parkway becomes the Ocean Parkway. The northern terminus is at the Northern State Parkway in Carle Place...
, intersects the south end of the
Wantagh State ParkwayThe Wantagh State Parkway is a state parkway on Long Island, New York that links the Ocean Parkway at Jones Beach State Park with the Northern State Parkway in Westbury. It is unsigned New York State Reference Route 908T. The parkway is located approximately east of Manhattan and east of the...
, and ends just past the southern terminus of the
Robert Moses CausewayThe Robert Moses Causeway is an long parkway in Suffolk County, New York. The parkway, originally known as the Captree Causeway, connects West Islip on Long Island to the barrier beach islands, such as Captree Island, Jones Beach Island, and the western tip of Fire Island, to the south. It is...
. It is designated
New York State Reference Route 909D, an unsigned reference route.
Route description
It is one of the more unusual parkways of Long Island, with most of its exits not being to
freewayA freeway is a type of road designed for safer high-speed operation of motor vehicles through the elimination of at-grade intersections. This is accomplished by preventing access to and from adjacent properties and eliminating all cross traffic through the use of grade separations and...
standards. For most of its length, it is similar to a divided highway with
right-in/right-outRight-in/right-out and left-in/left-out refer to a type of road intersection where turning movements of vehicles are restricted. A RIRO permits only right turns and a LILO permits only left turns. RIRO is usual where vehicles drive on the right, and LILO is usual where vehicles drive on the left...
access, with right-only intersections forming most of the junctions and turnaround points for traffic coming from the opposite direction. There are three exceptions—the junction with the
Wantagh State ParkwayThe Wantagh State Parkway is a state parkway on Long Island, New York that links the Ocean Parkway at Jones Beach State Park with the Northern State Parkway in Westbury. It is unsigned New York State Reference Route 908T. The parkway is located approximately east of Manhattan and east of the...
, which is a
roundaboutA roundabout is one of several types of circular road junctions or intersections at which traffic is slowed down and enters a one-way stream around a central island. Technically these junctions sometimes are called modern roundabouts, in order to emphasize the distinction from older circular...
, and the junctions with
Robert Moses CausewayThe Robert Moses Causeway is an long parkway in Suffolk County, New York. The parkway, originally known as the Captree Causeway, connects West Islip on Long Island to the barrier beach islands, such as Captree Island, Jones Beach Island, and the western tip of Fire Island, to the south. It is...
near Captree State Park and at
Bay ParkwayThe Bay Parkway is a
3.26 mile semi-limited-access highway entirely within Jones Beach State Park in Nassau County, New York. The western terminus is at a loop near the western edge of Jones Inlet. The eastern terminus is at the Jones Beach...
in Jones Beach State Park where it becomes
Meadowbrook State ParkwayThe Meadowbrook State Parkway is a long parkway in Nassau County, New York. The southern terminus is at the Bay Parkway in Jones Beach State Park, where the parkway becomes the Ocean Parkway. The northern terminus is at the Northern State Parkway in Carle Place...
, both of which are full
cloverleaf interchangeA cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange in which left turns are handled by loop roads...
s.
Because of its southern location, Ocean Parkway is one of the few parkways in the entire state whose entire length allows truck traffic, albeit for local deliveries only. This is because an exemption to the "No Trucks" regulation was made for any length of parkway that lies south of either Merrick Road or Montauk Highway (Nassau County Route 27A and
New York State Route 27ANew York State Route 27A is a state highway extending from Massapequa in Nassau County to Oakdale in Suffolk County on Long Island, New York, United States. Its two most prominent components are Merrick Road and Montauk Highway....
). There are no other truck routes south of this route, making the parkways the default route for deliveries to the beaches.
It is said, that on a clear sunny day the
ManhattanManhattan is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River.New York County, which has the same boundaries as the Borough of Manhattan , is the most densely populated county in the United States, with a 2008 population of 1,634,795...
skyline can be seen from as far as the
Suffolk CountySuffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York on the eastern portion of Long Island. As of the 2000 census, the population was 1,419,369. It was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its earliest settlers came. The county seat is Riverhead, though many county...
portion of the parkway, approximately 40-45 miles away.
History
Originally, there had been plans to extend the parkway to nearby Fire Island, and two attempts were made to authorize construction. However, residents resisted the plan: the first time for economic reasons, the second for environmental reasons. Eventually, park legislation in the 1960s blocked further plans to extend the parkway.
Exit list
All exits are unnumbered.
| County |
Location |
Mile |
Destinations |
Notes |
NassauNassau County is a suburban county in the New York Metropolitan Area east of New York City in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2000 census, the population was 1,334,544...
|
Jones Beach State Park Jones Beach State Park is a state park of the U.S. state of New York. It is located in southern Nassau County, in the hamlet of Wantagh, on Jones Beach Island, a barrier island linked to Long Island by the Meadowbrook State Parkway, Wantagh State Parkway and Ocean Parkway .The park is renowned for...
|
0.00 |
 Ocean Parkway continues north as the  Meadowbrook State ParkwayThe Meadowbrook State Parkway is a long parkway in Nassau County, New York. The southern terminus is at the Bay Parkway in Jones Beach State Park, where the parkway becomes the Ocean Parkway. The northern terminus is at the Northern State Parkway in Carle Place...
. |
Bay ParkwayThe Bay Parkway is a 3.26 mile semi-limited-access highway entirely within Jones Beach State Park in Nassau County, New York. The western terminus is at a loop near the western edge of Jones Inlet. The eastern terminus is at the Jones Beach...
|
|
| 2.00 |
 Wantagh State ParkwayThe Wantagh State Parkway is a state parkway on Long Island, New York that links the Ocean Parkway at Jones Beach State Park with the Northern State Parkway in Westbury. It is unsigned New York State Reference Route 908T. The parkway is located approximately east of Manhattan and east of the...
north to  Southern State ParkwayThe Southern State Parkway is a 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...
|
RoundaboutA roundabout is one of several types of circular road junctions or intersections at which traffic is slowed down and enters a one-way stream around a central island. Technically these junctions sometimes are called modern roundabouts, in order to emphasize the distinction from older circular...
. |
| At-grade intersections for . |
| Suffolk Suffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York on the eastern portion of Long Island. As of the 2000 census, the population was 1,419,369. It was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its earliest settlers came. The county seat is Riverhead, though many county...
|
Captree State ParkCaptree State Park is a state park in Suffolk County, New York in the USA.The park is located on the easternmost end of Jones Island http://www.nysparks.com/parks/65/details.aspx , and overlooks the Fire Island Inlet and the westernmost section of Fire Island, partly in the...
|
15.27 |
 Robert Moses CausewayThe Robert Moses Causeway is an long parkway in Suffolk County, New York. The parkway, originally known as the Captree Causeway, connects West Islip on Long Island to the barrier beach islands, such as Captree Island, Jones Beach Island, and the western tip of Fire Island, to the south. It is...
– Robert Moses State ParkRobert Moses State Park - Long Island is a state park which is located in the state of New York.The park lies in southern Suffolk County on the western end of Fire Island, one of the central barrier Islands off the southern coast of Long Island...
, Fire Island |
|
| 15.59 |
Toll booths |
Eastern terminus of state maintenance. |
External links