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County Route 97 (Suffolk County, New York)
Encyclopedia
Suffolk County Road 97, also known as Nicolls Road (named after 17th century colonial Governor Richard Nicolls
), is a major county road in Suffolk County, New York
. It runs north and south from County Route 85 (Montauk Highway
) on the border of Bayport and Blue Point to New York State Route 25A
in Stony Brook.
) west of the Islip-Brookhaven Town Line in Bayport just west of Blue Point. The median at this end was widened for the purpose of adding a trumpet interchange that was never built. North of Church Street, Nicolls Road becomes the limited-access highway it was originally intended to be, only to be interrupted by Greenbelt Parkway north of the interchange of NY 27. For the rest of the journey CR 97 is a limited-access highway running along the border between Holtsville and Holbrook.
The road runs on two long bridges over Furrows Road (unmarked Suffolk County Road 90), the Main Line
of the Long Island Rail Road
and Long Island Avenue. Access to Long Island Avenue is available from turning ramps onto Union Avenue which lead to connecting roads that run parallel to CR 97. As the road approaches the Long Island Expressway, it runs below a cloverleaf with collective-distributor roads along the Expressway that were built before Nicolls Road itself, and had served as the southern terminus of Nicolls until 1975. The limited-access portion terminates north of the Portion Road
interchange. From here, the road runs along the western side of the Ammerman Campus of Suffolk County Community College
where it briefly curves to the northwest, then moves back north after crossing South Coleman Road before reaching the interchange with New York State Route 25
.
North of Route 25, the road takes another northwest curve until it reaches Hawkins Road south of Wireless Road, and takes a much more westerly direction. In this section, Hawkins Road serves as a frontage road along the southbound lane between Pond Path Drive and Wireless Road, while Bette Ann Drive was built as an additional frontage road along the northbound lane from Mark Tree Road to the Hawkins and Wireless Road intersection. Both frontage roads are two lanes wide and are bi-directional. Only after crossing Pond Path Drive does Nicolls Road return to a north-south road before reaching New York State Route 347
, which is slated to get a cloverleaf interchange.
Beyond NY 347, Nicolls Road is surrounded by suburban development of the 1960s, although very few of that development leads directly to the road. At some point, the developed area ends, and County Route 97 winds through the hills of the State University of New York at Stony Brook
with numerous underpasses mainly for pedestrians As the St. George's Golf and County Club becomes more visible, County Route 97 appraches the penultimate intersection between the northernmost driveway into Stony Brook University and a connecting road to Lower Sheep Pasture Road before crossing under the railroad bridge that carries the Port Jefferson Branch
of the Long Island Rail Road
, where it finally terminates at New York State Route 25A
.
and the Nesconset-Port Jefferson Highway, now known as NY 347
. The railroad bridge that carries the Port Jefferson Branch of the Long Island Rail Road replaced an older and narrower one over a former section of Sheep Pasture Road. County Route 97 winds through the hills of the State University of New York at Stony Brook
with numerous underpasses before its descent back into suburbia. Nicolls Road bisected two sections of Oxhead Road between Sycamore Avenue and Hawkins Road. In the mid-1970s, the driveways and pedestrian underpasses around SUNY Stony Brook were relocated in a major reconstruction project.
. Originally, this segment only ran between South Coleman Road and Portion Road(now Suffolk County Road 16
). However it ended up bisecting Horse Block Road. In order to reconnect the western section of Horse Block Road back to Portion Road, two side roads were built. A north–south frontage called Leeds Boulevard and an east–west street called Horse Block Place, between Leeds Boulevard and College Road. A cloverleaf interchange with Portion Road was built in 1971, and the south-to-west ramp connected to both directions on Leeds Boulevard. In the fall of 2008, the left turning lanes at Horseblock Place was eliminated to relieve traffic heading towards the college.
, towards the vicinity of Port Jefferson Harbor leading to a possible bridge to Bridgeport, Connecticut
. The interchange with New York State Route 25
was originally built as a widened median intersection that was intended to be a cloverleaf with outer ramps that connected to local streets like North Hammond Road and South Coleman Road, although construction of this interchange had been put on hold for decades.
Along with the merging of the Stony Brook University and Suffolk Community College sections was the 1971 extension south of Portion Road to the Long Island Expressway. The Division Street overpass was built in 1975, four years after the at-grade intersection was built. After years of financial and bureaucratic delays and rampant development, the NY 25 interchange was finally built as New York State's first Single Point Urban Interchange in 1998.
between East Farmingdale and Calverton. The rest of Nicolls Road remains a limited-access highway until reaching Greenbelt Parkway, south of the interchange with Suffolk County Road 19 (Patchogue-Holbrook Road).
The interchange with New York State Route 27
was originally an intersection that replaced an intersection with Sylvan Avenue, which became a dirt road north of Sunrise Highway. Like the one with New York State Route 25
, it was built as a widened median for the purpose of being upgraded into a cloverleaf interchange. In the 1980s it actually was built as a cloverleaf, but to the newly installed service roads along Sunrise Highway, which required the elimination of two nearby roadside parking areas. Many road maps still mistakenly show these parking areas.
Richard Nicolls
Richard Nicolls was the first English colonial governor of New York province....
), is a major county road in Suffolk County, New York
Suffolk County, New York
Suffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York on the eastern portion of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,493,350. It was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its earliest settlers came...
. It runs north and south from County Route 85 (Montauk Highway
Montauk Highway
Montauk Highway is one of the original through highways of Long Island, New York, extending from Jamaica, in the New York City borough of Queens to Montauk Point in Suffolk County, a distance of approximately 100 miles ....
) on the border of Bayport and Blue Point to New York State Route 25A
New York State Route 25A
New York State Route 25A is a state highway on Long Island in New York in the United States. It serves as the main east–west route for most of the North Shore of Long Island, running from the Queens Midtown Tunnel in the New York City borough of Queens at its western terminus to...
in Stony Brook.
Route description
Suffolk CR 97 begins at the Suffolk County Road 85(Montauk HighwayMontauk Highway
Montauk Highway is one of the original through highways of Long Island, New York, extending from Jamaica, in the New York City borough of Queens to Montauk Point in Suffolk County, a distance of approximately 100 miles ....
) west of the Islip-Brookhaven Town Line in Bayport just west of Blue Point. The median at this end was widened for the purpose of adding a trumpet interchange that was never built. North of Church Street, Nicolls Road becomes the limited-access highway it was originally intended to be, only to be interrupted by Greenbelt Parkway north of the interchange of NY 27. For the rest of the journey CR 97 is a limited-access highway running along the border between Holtsville and Holbrook.
The road runs on two long bridges over Furrows Road (unmarked Suffolk County Road 90), the Main Line
Main Line (Long Island Rail Road)
The Main Line is a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. It begins in Long Island City and runs along the middle of Long Island about 95 miles to Greenport...
of the Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
and Long Island Avenue. Access to Long Island Avenue is available from turning ramps onto Union Avenue which lead to connecting roads that run parallel to CR 97. As the road approaches the Long Island Expressway, it runs below a cloverleaf with collective-distributor roads along the Expressway that were built before Nicolls Road itself, and had served as the southern terminus of Nicolls until 1975. The limited-access portion terminates north of the Portion Road
County Route 16 (Suffolk County, New York)
Suffolk County Route 16 is a main thoroughfare through central Suffolk County, New York. Its western terminus is at Middle Country Road in Smithtown, on the eastern border of the Village of the Branch, and its eastern terminus is at Montauk Highway in Brookhaven near Southhaven...
interchange. From here, the road runs along the western side of the Ammerman Campus of Suffolk County Community College
Suffolk County Community College
Suffolk County Community College is a two-year public college on Long Island, NY sponsored by SUNY and Suffolk County, New York in the USA....
where it briefly curves to the northwest, then moves back north after crossing South Coleman Road before reaching the interchange with New York State Route 25
New York State Route 25
New York State Route 25 is an east–west state highway in downstate New York in the United States. The route extends for just over from east midtown Manhattan in New York City to the Cross Sound Ferry terminal at Orient Point on the end of Long Island's North Fork...
.
North of Route 25, the road takes another northwest curve until it reaches Hawkins Road south of Wireless Road, and takes a much more westerly direction. In this section, Hawkins Road serves as a frontage road along the southbound lane between Pond Path Drive and Wireless Road, while Bette Ann Drive was built as an additional frontage road along the northbound lane from Mark Tree Road to the Hawkins and Wireless Road intersection. Both frontage roads are two lanes wide and are bi-directional. Only after crossing Pond Path Drive does Nicolls Road return to a north-south road before reaching New York State Route 347
New York State Route 347
New York State Route 347 is an east–west state highway located in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It connects the Northern State Parkway in Hauppauge to NY 25A in Mount Sinai. The route serves as a southern bypass of Smithtown and as a direct link between Nesconset and...
, which is slated to get a cloverleaf interchange.
Beyond NY 347, Nicolls Road is surrounded by suburban development of the 1960s, although very few of that development leads directly to the road. At some point, the developed area ends, and County Route 97 winds through the hills of the State University of New York at Stony Brook
State University of New York at Stony Brook
The State University of New York at Stony Brook, also known as Stony Brook University, is a public research university located in Stony Brook, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island, about east of Manhattan....
with numerous underpasses mainly for pedestrians As the St. George's Golf and County Club becomes more visible, County Route 97 appraches the penultimate intersection between the northernmost driveway into Stony Brook University and a connecting road to Lower Sheep Pasture Road before crossing under the railroad bridge that carries the Port Jefferson Branch
Port Jefferson Branch
The Port Jefferson Branch is a rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch splits from the Main Line just east of Hicksville and runs northeast and east to Port Jefferson...
of the Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
, where it finally terminates at New York State Route 25A
New York State Route 25A
New York State Route 25A is a state highway on Long Island in New York in the United States. It serves as the main east–west route for most of the North Shore of Long Island, running from the Queens Midtown Tunnel in the New York City borough of Queens at its western terminus to...
.
History
The road started out as two different main highways through two different colleges in Suffolk County, and was built in stages from north to south.State University of New York at Stony Brook
The oldest section of Nicolls Road was built in the early-1960's between NY 25ANew York State Route 25A
New York State Route 25A is a state highway on Long Island in New York in the United States. It serves as the main east–west route for most of the North Shore of Long Island, running from the Queens Midtown Tunnel in the New York City borough of Queens at its western terminus to...
and the Nesconset-Port Jefferson Highway, now known as NY 347
New York State Route 347
New York State Route 347 is an east–west state highway located in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It connects the Northern State Parkway in Hauppauge to NY 25A in Mount Sinai. The route serves as a southern bypass of Smithtown and as a direct link between Nesconset and...
. The railroad bridge that carries the Port Jefferson Branch of the Long Island Rail Road replaced an older and narrower one over a former section of Sheep Pasture Road. County Route 97 winds through the hills of the State University of New York at Stony Brook
State University of New York at Stony Brook
The State University of New York at Stony Brook, also known as Stony Brook University, is a public research university located in Stony Brook, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island, about east of Manhattan....
with numerous underpasses before its descent back into suburbia. Nicolls Road bisected two sections of Oxhead Road between Sycamore Avenue and Hawkins Road. In the mid-1970s, the driveways and pedestrian underpasses around SUNY Stony Brook were relocated in a major reconstruction project.
Suffolk County Community College
The next oldest section of Nicolls Road was built on the ground of the former Suffolk Sanitorium, which was converted into the main campus of Suffolk County Community CollegeSuffolk County Community College
Suffolk County Community College is a two-year public college on Long Island, NY sponsored by SUNY and Suffolk County, New York in the USA....
. Originally, this segment only ran between South Coleman Road and Portion Road(now Suffolk County Road 16
County Route 16 (Suffolk County, New York)
Suffolk County Route 16 is a main thoroughfare through central Suffolk County, New York. Its western terminus is at Middle Country Road in Smithtown, on the eastern border of the Village of the Branch, and its eastern terminus is at Montauk Highway in Brookhaven near Southhaven...
). However it ended up bisecting Horse Block Road. In order to reconnect the western section of Horse Block Road back to Portion Road, two side roads were built. A north–south frontage called Leeds Boulevard and an east–west street called Horse Block Place, between Leeds Boulevard and College Road. A cloverleaf interchange with Portion Road was built in 1971, and the south-to-west ramp connected to both directions on Leeds Boulevard. In the fall of 2008, the left turning lanes at Horseblock Place was eliminated to relieve traffic heading towards the college.
Merging two college roads
Local streets such as Hawkins Road were reconstructed as a frontage road between Pond Path and Wireless Road, while Bette Ann Drive was built as an additional frontage road along the northbound lane west to Mark Tree Road. At the intersection with Hawkins Road and Wireless Road, the southern terminus of the formerly proposed Suffolk County Road 110 (A.O. Smith Turnpike) was intended to be built with an interchange. A.O. Smith Turnpike was to replace Wireless Road, and continue north of New York State Route 347New York State Route 347
New York State Route 347 is an east–west state highway located in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It connects the Northern State Parkway in Hauppauge to NY 25A in Mount Sinai. The route serves as a southern bypass of Smithtown and as a direct link between Nesconset and...
, towards the vicinity of Port Jefferson Harbor leading to a possible bridge to Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
. The interchange with New York State Route 25
New York State Route 25
New York State Route 25 is an east–west state highway in downstate New York in the United States. The route extends for just over from east midtown Manhattan in New York City to the Cross Sound Ferry terminal at Orient Point on the end of Long Island's North Fork...
was originally built as a widened median intersection that was intended to be a cloverleaf with outer ramps that connected to local streets like North Hammond Road and South Coleman Road, although construction of this interchange had been put on hold for decades.
Along with the merging of the Stony Brook University and Suffolk Community College sections was the 1971 extension south of Portion Road to the Long Island Expressway. The Division Street overpass was built in 1975, four years after the at-grade intersection was built. After years of financial and bureaucratic delays and rampant development, the NY 25 interchange was finally built as New York State's first Single Point Urban Interchange in 1998.
South of the Long Island Expressway
The construction of Nicolls Road south of exit 62 on I-495 required an extension of Long Island Avenue to Union Avenue, which was cut off by the road and turned into on-off ramps for Long Island Avenue. Two long bridges were built over the Long Island Avenue Extension, the LIRR Main Line, and Furrows Road, which was formerly proposed to be built as part of a Central Suffolk Highway designed to reconnect the two broken ends of New York State Route 24New York State Route 24
New York State Route 24 is an east–west state highway on Long Island in New York in the United States. The route is split into two segments, with the longest and westernmost of the two extending from Interstate 295 and NY 25 in the Queens Village section of the New York City...
between East Farmingdale and Calverton. The rest of Nicolls Road remains a limited-access highway until reaching Greenbelt Parkway, south of the interchange with Suffolk County Road 19 (Patchogue-Holbrook Road).
The interchange with New York State Route 27
New York State Route 27
New York State Route 27 is an east–west long state highway extending from Interstate 278 in the New York City borough of Brooklyn to Montauk Point State Park on Long Island, New York, United States...
was originally an intersection that replaced an intersection with Sylvan Avenue, which became a dirt road north of Sunrise Highway. Like the one with New York State Route 25
New York State Route 25
New York State Route 25 is an east–west state highway in downstate New York in the United States. The route extends for just over from east midtown Manhattan in New York City to the Cross Sound Ferry terminal at Orient Point on the end of Long Island's North Fork...
, it was built as a widened median for the purpose of being upgraded into a cloverleaf interchange. In the 1980s it actually was built as a cloverleaf, but to the newly installed service roads along Sunrise Highway, which required the elimination of two nearby roadside parking areas. Many road maps still mistakenly show these parking areas.
External links
- Nicolls Road @ NYCROADS.com
- Photographs, December 28, 2003 (The Expressway Site)
- Nicolls Road (The Roads of Long Island)
- Nicolls Road (LIRoads.com)
- Suffolk CR 97 Corridor Study (Suffolk County DPW)