October 19–25, 2026, brought 29 planned full closures for roadwork or events to Nassau and Suffolk roads, according to 511NY records stored by Long Island Traffic. The Long Island Expressway led with 7 planned closures, and 24 of the 29 planned closures started between 10 p.m. and 5:59 a.m., the 511NY records show.
511NY listed 2 unplanned full closures on Long Island roads that week, according to the same records. Both were in Suffolk County, and 511NY attributed both to crashes.
Long Island Expressway led planned closures with 7
The Long Island Expressway had 7 planned full closures, the most of any road, according to 511NY records stored by Long Island Traffic. NY 878 and Wantagh State Parkway each had 6, and NY 25A had 4, the records show.
Full closures by road (top 10)
| Road | Unplanned | Planned (roadwork or events) |
|---|---|---|
| NY 347 | 1 | 0 |
| NY 454 | 1 | 0 |
| Long Island Expressway | 0 | 7 |
| NY 878 | 0 | 6 |
| Wantagh State Parkway | 0 | 6 |
| NY 25A | 0 | 4 |
| Southern State Parkway | 0 | 3 |
| Sunrise Highway | 0 | 2 |
| NY 27A | 0 | 1 |
On the Long Island Expressway, 511NY listed a westbound roadwork closure between Exit 39 - Glen Cove Road (North Hempstead) and Exit 32 - Little Neck Parkway (New York) 3 times, according to the records. Those listings totaled 17.3 hours, and the longest single listing ran 6.5 hours.
Wantagh State Parkway appears twice in the location breakdown, according to 511NY records stored by Long Island Traffic. 511NY listed a westbound roadwork closure between Exit W2E - Old Country Road (Hempstead) and the end of the parkway at Northern State Parkway (North Hempstead) 3 times, for 15 total hours. 511NY listed a second westbound closure, between Exit W2W - Old Country Road - Town of Hempstead Line (Hempstead) and Northern State Parkway, 2 times, for 13.2 total hours.
Planned full closures (roadwork or events) by location, most hours listed first
| Road | Direction | Where (per 511NY) | Work (511NY wording) | Times listed | Total hours listed | Longest single listing (hours) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NY 27A | Both directions | between Grand Central Avenue (Amityville) and Ocean Avenue (Babylon) | Construction | 1 | 22.4 | 22.4 |
| Long Island Expressway | Westbound | between Exit 39 - Glen Cove Road (North Hempstead) and Exit 32 - Little Neck Parkway (New York) | Roadwork | 3 | 17.3 | 6.5 |
| NY 25A | Eastbound | between Woodlawn Avenue (Smithtown) and Edgewood Avenue; Ramp (Smithtown) | Roadwork | 2 | 15.1 | 7.6 |
| Wantagh State Parkway | Westbound | between Exit W2E - Old Country Road (Hempstead) and END ROUTE Wantagh State Parkway at Northern State Parkway (North Hempstead) | Roadwork | 3 | 15 | 6.4 |
| Southern State Parkway | Eastbound | between Exit 41A - Sagtikos State Parkway (Islip) and Exit 43N - NY 111 (Islip) | Roadwork | 2 | 13.5 | 6.9 |
| Wantagh State Parkway | Westbound | between Exit W2W - Old Country Road - Town of Hempstead Line (Hempstead) and END ROUTE Wantagh State Parkway at Northern State Parkway (North Hempstead) | Roadwork | 2 | 13.2 | 6.6 |
See current Long Island road work zones for active work.
NY 27A construction closure listed for 22.4 hours
The longest single listing among planned full closures was construction on NY 27A in both directions between Grand Central Avenue (Amityville) and Ocean Avenue (Babylon), according to 511NY records stored by Long Island Traffic. 511NY listed it for 22.4 hours, from 10:50 p.m. Friday, October 23, to 9:15 p.m. Saturday, October 24.
On NY 25A, 511NY listed an eastbound roadwork closure between Woodlawn Avenue (Smithtown) and Edgewood Avenue; Ramp (Smithtown) 2 times, for 15.1 total hours, the records show. On Southern State Parkway, 511NY listed an eastbound roadwork closure between Exit 41A - Sagtikos State Parkway (Islip) and Exit 43N - NY 111 (Islip) 2 times, for 13.5 total hours.
24 of 29 planned closures started overnight
511NY reported 24 of the 29 planned full closures starting overnight, between 10 p.m. and 5:59 a.m., according to records stored by Long Island Traffic. The records show 2 planned closures starting in the morning, from 6 to 9:59 a.m., and 3 starting in the afternoon and evening, from 3 to 9:59 p.m. None started at midday, from 10 a.m. to 2:59 p.m., the records show.
Full closures by the time 511NY reported them starting (Eastern)
| Start time | Unplanned | Planned (roadwork or events) |
|---|---|---|
| Overnight (10 p.m.–5:59 a.m.) | 1 | 24 |
| Morning (6–9:59 a.m.) | 0 | 2 |
| Midday (10 a.m.–2:59 p.m.) | 0 | 0 |
| Afternoon and evening (3–9:59 p.m.) | 1 | 3 |
2 crash closures in Suffolk, none in Nassau
511NY listed 2 unplanned full closures on Long Island roads October 19–25, both in Suffolk County and 0 in Nassau County, according to records stored by Long Island Traffic. 511NY attributed both to crashes. NY 347 and NY 454 tied with 1 unplanned closure each, the records show.
511NY listed a crash closure on NY 347 westbound at Old Town Road (Brookhaven) for 1.9 hours, from 11:56 p.m. Thursday, October 22, to 1:49 a.m. Friday, October 23, according to the 511NY records.
511NY listed a crash closure on NY 454 in both directions at East Suffolk Avenue; CR 100 (Islip) for 1.1 hours, from 9:56 p.m. to 11:02 p.m. Monday, October 19, the records show.
Longest-listed unplanned full closures, Nassau and Suffolk, October 19–25, 2026
| Road | Direction | Where (per 511NY) | Cause (511NY wording) | Reported (ET) | Last listed (ET) | Hours listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NY 347 | Westbound | at Old Town Road (Brookhaven) | Crash | Thu 10/22 11:56 p.m. | Fri 10/23 1:49 a.m. | 1.9 |
| NY 454 | Both directions | at East Suffolk Avenue; CR 100 (Islip) | Crash | Mon 10/19 9:56 p.m. | Mon 10/19 11:02 p.m. | 1.1 |
The median unplanned full closure stayed listed for 1.5 hours, and 0 unplanned closures were listed for 3 hours or more, according to 511NY records stored by Long Island Traffic. Long Island Traffic dropped 2 records as likely duplicates that shared a road, direction and cause and overlapped in time.
Unplanned closures averaged 0.3 per day
Unplanned full closures averaged 0.3 per day over the 7 days counted this week, according to 511NY records stored by Long Island Traffic. Over the previous 4 weeks, with 25 days counted, the average was 1.2 per day, the records show.
Long Island Traffic began reading 511NY’s new system on October 2, 2026, and records before and after that date come from different versions of the 511NY feed. For the week of September 21–27, 2026, the records show 25 unplanned full closures. Planned closures numbered 30 for October 12–18 and 26 for October 5–11, according to the same records.
Full closures by week (days with missing 511 data excluded)
| Week (ET) | Days counted | Unplanned | Unplanned per day | Median hours listed (unplanned) | Planned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 19–25, 2026 | 7 | 2 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 29 |
| October 12–18, 2026 | 7 | 1 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 30 |
| October 5–11, 2026 | 7 | 2 | 0.3 | 3.5 | 26 |
| September 28–October 4, 2026 | 4 | 3 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 18 |
| September 21–27, 2026 | 7 | 25 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 23 |
How we measured this
- Records: 511NY records on Nassau and Suffolk roads whose description says all lanes were closed or blocked (or “Road closed”), with a 511 start time from 12:00 a.m. October 19 through 11:59 p.m. October 25 (Eastern). Queens is excluded.
- Long Island Traffic checks the 511NY feed about once an hour. “Hours listed” runs from the start time 511NY reported to the last hourly check that still listed the closure; the next check no longer had it.
- Unplanned closures are those 511NY attributes to crashes, downed trees, poles or wires, flooding, police or fire activity, spills, water-main breaks or emergency repairs. Closures 511NY attributes to roadwork, maintenance or events are counted as planned. Causes are 511NY’s own wording.
- A closure counts as unplanned or planned only when 511NY gave a cause. Records that say only “Road closed” are reported as “cause not listed” and counted as neither.
- Advance construction schedules (one 511 notice covering a week of nightly work) are not counted; only closures 511NY listed while they were in effect are.
- Two records on the same road, direction and cause whose listings overlap are counted once, keeping the longer listing.
- Days on which 511NY data was missing or incomplete are left out of this week and of the comparison weeks, and the weeks are compared per counted day.
Limitations
- 511NY data was missing or incomplete on Sep 30, 2026, Oct 1, 2026 and Oct 2, 2026 (a 511NY outage or capture gap). Those days are left out; 7 days are counted this week and 25 in the previous four weeks.
- Long Island Traffic began reading 511NY’s new system on October 2, 2026. Records before and after that date come from different versions of the 511NY feed, and whether the two record incidents at the same rate has not yet been measured, so a change across that date may partly reflect the switch.
- “Hours listed” is how long 511NY kept the closure on its feed, measured to about an hour. It is not an official reopening time: 511NY can clear a record before or after every lane reopens.
- Lane status is the last one 511NY showed. A closure that was partly reopened before its record cleared may not be counted as a full closure, and some closures never reach 511NY.
- Causes are 511NY’s labels at the time of listing, not findings from police or crash investigations.
- Closures on local and village streets are counted only when 511NY lists them, which is mostly state roads, parkways and county roads.
Correction, Nov. 2, 2026: An earlier version described these closures as unplanned. 511NY listed all but two of them as roadwork, construction or a special event.