What Happened
Eastbound lanes on Sunrise Highway will be closed overnight starting Sunday, July 13, 2026, as crews undertake a pavement renewal project on one of Long Island’s busiest thoroughfares, according to News 12 Long Island.
The closures will affect the eastbound lanes between the Wantagh State Parkway and County Line Road, running from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. nightly. The work is scheduled to take place Sunday nights through Thursday nights, meaning Friday and Saturday nights will remain unaffected. The project is expected to be completed in four weeks, per the News 12 report by Brendan O’Leary, published Saturday, July 11, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.
No detour route was specified in the announcement. Drivers traveling eastbound on Sunrise Highway during the overnight closure window should expect to be directed off the highway at or near the Wantagh State Parkway interchange and should allow extra time or use alternate routes such as Merrick Road or Montauk Highway for eastbound travel during those hours.
This closure follows a travel advisory issued on July 10, 2026 warning of overnight lane closures on eastbound Sunrise Highway in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, suggesting this pavement renewal effort is part of a broader, coordinated construction push along the NY 27 corridor.
Location & Road Context
Sunrise Highway (NY 27) is one of the primary east-west arteries on Long Island, running from Valley Stream in Nassau County through the South Shore of Suffolk County. The affected segment — between the Wantagh State Parkway and County Line Road — straddles the Nassau-Suffolk border, a heavily traveled stretch that carries significant commuter and recreational traffic, particularly during summer months when beach and Hamptons-bound vehicles surge in volume.
Long Island Traffic’s database shows 967 recorded incidents on this road, with five separate roadwork or construction entries logged on NY 27 in the days immediately surrounding this project (July 13–14, 2026 alone). Recent incidents on this stretch include flooding on NY 27 on July 6 and two separate crashes on July 3 and July 5, underscoring the corridor’s persistent traffic and safety demands.
Broader Impact
The four-week overnight closure schedule — Sunday through Thursday, 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. — is timed to minimize disruption to peak daytime and weekend traffic, but summer nights on the South Shore remain busy with late-returning beachgoers and nightlife traffic. Motorists should note that the closures run through mid-August 2026 if the four-week timeline holds, overlapping with the height of Long Island’s summer travel season. Just days before this announcement, a fatal DWI crash on Sunrise Highway resulted in guilty pleas from a Bay Shore father and son, a reminder that impaired and inattentive driving in active construction zones carries severe consequences under New York State law.