• Western Long Island
  

This 1999 photo shows the westbound Bay Parkway through Jones Beach. Note the original-issue parkway lightpole with missing crossarm support. (Photo by Steve Anderson.)

Length:
Constructed:
NYSDOT Reference Route:

3.3 miles (5.3 kilometers)
1930-1934
NY 909E

CONNECTING THE BEACHS TO THE THEATER: Not to be confused with the Brooklyn boulevard, Long Island's Bay Parkway is located entirely within the confines of Jones Beach State Park. The limited-access Bay Parkway begins the west end of Jones Beach, continues past the Meadowbrook and Wantagh parkways, and ends at the Jones Beach Marine Theatre. The parkway also serves the Jones Beach boat basin and fishing piers.

For about half of its 3.2-mile length, the Bay Parkway runs parallel to (and just north of) the Ocean Parkway. Three lanes are provided in the eastbound direction, while two lanes are provided in the westbound direction. The two roadways are separated by a variable, beach grass-covered median. In some locations, some of the original 1930's-era wooden lightposts remain standing.

FINALLY, SOME RECOGNITION: In 2001, the NYSDOT erected new signs that acknowledged the Bay Parkway at the Meadowbrook Parkway-Ocean Parkway-Bay Parkway cloverleaf interchange. The "control cities" for the Bay Parkway are "West End Beaches" and "Jones Beach Theatre."

From left to right, these photos from 1988, 2013, and 2014 show what eventually became the last of the original 1930s lightpoles on the Bay Parkway. By the end of the 2010s, that lightpole was no longer standing. (Left photo by Steven Waldman, center and right photos by Mtich Kahn; photos originally posted in the NYCRoads Facebook group.

SOURCES: The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro, Vintage Books-Random House (1974); History of the Long Island State Parkway System, New York State Department of Transportation (1985); Robert Moses: Single-Minded Genius by Joann P. Krieg, Heart of the Lakes Publishing (1989); Ralph Herman; Nathan W. Perry; Mike Tantillo.

• Lightpost by Jeff Saltzman.
  

BAY PARKWAY LINKS:

• Bay Parkway (David Golub)
  
• Bay Parkway Traffic Counts (New York State Department of Transportation)
  
• The Long Island Parkway System (New York State Department of Transportation)
  
• Jones Beach State Park
  

BAY PARKWAY CURRENT TRAFFIC CONDITIONS:

• Western Long Island
  

BAY  PARKWAY VIDEO LINK:

• Bay Parkway (Dan Murphy)
  

THE EXITS OF METRO NEW YORK:

• Bay Parkway exit list by Steve Anderson.
  

Back to The Roads of Metro New York home page.

Site contents © by Eastern Roads. This is not an official site run by a government agency. Recommendations provided on this site are strictly those of the author and contributors, not of any government or corporate entity.