Overview
The Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway — New York State Route 135 — is Nassau County’s primary north-south limited-access corridor, running 16 miles from the Southern State Parkway in Seaford at its southern end to the Long Island Expressway near Syosset at its northern terminus. It carries approximately 60,000 vehicles per day, serving as the critical connector between the south shore parkway system and the LIE for central Nassau County residents in Massapequa, Plainview, Syosset, and surrounding communities.
The expressway was constructed in the 1960s to address the growing need for north-south limited-access routes in Nassau County. Unlike the east-west parkways built by Robert Moses in the 1930s and 1940s, Route 135 was designed for the automobile commuter era and features wider lanes, more generous interchange geometry, and a higher design standard than the older parkways it connects to.
Despite its designation as a state route rather than a parkway, Route 135 functions primarily as a passenger vehicle connector — commercial truck restrictions significantly limit its utility for freight. The expressway is a critical route for residents of Massapequa and Plainview accessing the LIE for commutes to New York City, and for Nassau County residents seeking south shore beach access via the Southern State.
The community of Massapequa — one of Nassau County’s quintessential postwar suburbs — sits astride the expressway’s mid-section. Plainview, the affluent Nassau County community to the north, is one of the primary residential destinations served by Route 135’s LIE connection.
Commuter Significance
Route 135 fills a critical gap in Nassau County’s highway network: while the east-west parkways provide efficient corridor travel, north-south limited-access connections are rare. Route 135 is the only limited-access north-south route through central Nassau County, making it indispensable for residents of Massapequa, Plainview, and Syosset who need to cross the county without crawling through town centers.
The expressway is most heavily used by commuters traveling between the LIE (for connections west toward New York City) and the Southern State Parkway (for connections east along the south shore). Despite the truck restrictions, commercial vehicles occasionally attempt to use the expressway — particularly at night when enforcement is lower — and wrong-vehicle crashes here are notably severe given the height restriction infrastructure.
Seasonal Traffic Patterns
Like the parkways it connects, Route 135 sees elevated summer weekend volumes as it becomes part of the beach access chain: LIE → Route 135 → Southern State → Meadowbrook or Wantagh Parkway → Jones Beach. This three-road beach route is used heavily by residents of eastern Queens, Nassau County interior communities, and parts of Suffolk County who bypass the purely east-west parkways. Summer Friday southbound volumes on Route 135 are among the highest weekday-plus-recreational peaks on any Nassau County highway.
The Massapequa section of Route 135 is particularly important for north-south connectivity since Massapequa has limited grade-separated crossing options. Residents of Massapequa Park and Massapequa proper depend on Route 135 to reach the LIE for city-bound commutes, and the Massapequa LIRR station’s parking lots generate significant interchange traffic during peak AM periods at the expressway’s mid-point exits.
Dangerous Sections
LIE interchange, northern terminus (Syosset): The northern end of Route 135 at the LIE requires merging with high-speed expressway traffic. The relatively short acceleration lane and the complex three-way interchange with local roads creates an elevated crash risk, especially during AM peak westbound commute traffic.
Southern State Parkway interchange (Seaford): The southern terminus sees elevated summer traffic from beach-bound drivers using the Southern State-Route 135-LIE corridor. The compressed interchange geometry creates simultaneous weaving movements at speed.
Towns Along This Route
Current Conditions
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Recent Incidents
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Accident Statistics
Route 135 crash data show elevated incident rates at both interchange termini relative to the mid-section. The expressway’s consistent 55 mph design speed means crashes tend to be higher-severity than on local roads.