What Happened
State and Suffolk County elected officials gathered on September 15, 2026, to formally call for widening Sunrise Highway (Route 27) from two lanes to three in both directions between Exit 53 at Route 112 in Patchogue and Exit 59 at Wading River Road near Moriches, according to Long Island Life & Politics.
State Senator Dean Murray (R-Patchogue) and Assemblyman Joe DeStefano (R-Medford) organized the event. The gathering included Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, Legislative Presiding Officer Anthony Piccirillo (R-Holbrook), Legislators Dominick Thorne (R-Patchogue) and Jim Mazarella (R-Mastic), South Country Ambulance Chief Greg Miglino Jr., Long Island Contractors’ Association Executive Director Marc Herbst, and John Duffy, business manager of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 138.
The proposal targets the section where Sunrise Highway’s existing three-lane configuration east of Patchogue drops to two lanes at Exit 53. Mazarella called that transition point “a chokepoint resulting in backups and unnecessary delays for motorists” and said the narrowing affects the corridor from Exit 53 east through Exit 59. Murray and DeStefano are asking the state to begin the planning and funding process to extend the three lanes through that six-exit span.
Murray tied the push to post-pandemic population growth on eastern Long Island. “Eastern Long Island has changed dramatically over the past several years, and our infrastructure needs to keep pace with that growth,” he said. DeStefano argued the project is overdue: “For far too long, we have been forced to take a back seat to New York City’s transportation needs. No more. Let’s bring our infrastructure dollars home, starting right here with a new lane on one of Long Island’s busiest highways.”
Legislator Thorne added a direct public safety dimension: ambulances cannot reach the exit off Route 112 to get to NYU Langone Hospital because of congestion on the two-lane section. He also said residents along the corridor have raised concerns about carbon emissions and air quality. Chief Miglino backed that assessment. “The current roadway is outdated and not capable of handling the volume of vehicles that use it,” Miglino said. “This lack of capability often leads to backups in the area extending miles at times, often impacting the safe navigation of emergency vehicles, more specifically ambulances trying to get the sick and injured to the hospital.”
Suffolk County Executive Romaine said the proposal is about preparing the region for continued growth, not only clearing congestion. Piccirillo said residents “should not have to accept unnecessary traffic backups and delays as a fact of life” on a road that moves thousands of residents, commuters, and businesses daily. Marc Herbst of the Long Island Contractors’ Association framed the expansion as “a commonsense investment that will improve safety, ease congestion, strengthen access for emergency responders, and better connect residents and businesses across Suffolk County.” Duffy said the project would “create good-paying union jobs for Long Island’s hardworking men and women.”
No funding authorization, legislative sponsor in Albany, or project timeline was announced at the September 15 event. Murray and DeStefano said the next step is moving the planning and funding process forward, per Long Island Life & Politics.
Location & Road Context
The six-exit segment between Route 112 in Patchogue and Wading River Road near Moriches carries heavy commuter and commercial traffic across the Route 27 corridor in central-eastern Suffolk County. According to Long Island Traffic’s incident registry, Sunrise Highway has logged 95 incidents in 2026, with 20 recorded in the past 30 days. The most recent prior fatal crash on the corridor was August 10, 2026.
A related proposal emerged the same day: see State Suffolk Leaders To Propose Widening Sunrise Highway To Exit 59. Motorists on the corridor also dealt with a moderate crash on NY 27 on September 14 and a hit-and-run on Sunrise Highway westbound toward Wantagh State Parkway on September 12.
Broader Impact
Legislator Thorne’s point about ambulance access to NYU Langone Hospital off Route 112 is concrete and specific: the two-lane section at Exit 53 is not a general inconvenience but a named bottleneck on a confirmed emergency vehicle route. Chief Miglino’s department, South Country Ambulance, operates in that service area. No response time data was released at the September 15 event, and no state or federal funding commitment was announced. The next known step is the formal start of a planning and appropriations process, which Murray’s office has not yet scheduled.