Overview
Sunrise Highway — designated New York State Route 27 — is the primary south shore arterial on Long Island, stretching approximately 100 miles from Valley Stream in Nassau County to Montauk Point at the eastern tip of Suffolk County. Unlike the parallel Southern State Parkway to its north, Sunrise Highway is a conventional state road open to all vehicle types, serving commercial, commuter, and recreational traffic across one of Long Island’s most densely populated corridors.
The road’s history is intertwined with Long Island’s suburban development. The original roadway dates to the early 20th century as a series of local roads connecting south shore communities. It was designated a state route and progressively upgraded through the 1930s and 1950s as suburbanization accelerated the population of Nassau County’s south shore. In Nassau County, Sunrise Highway was rebuilt as a divided limited-access highway with grade separations at major cross streets, giving it a quasi-expressway character for roughly 20 miles. East of the Nassau/Suffolk line, the road transitions through increasingly commercial and eventually rural character as it traverses Babylon, Bay Shore, Patchogue, Hampton Bays, Southampton, East Hampton, and Amagansett before reaching Montauk.
The Nassau County section is one of the most commercially dense corridors on Long Island, lined with strip malls, car dealerships, and big-box retailers from Valley Stream through Lynbrook, Rockville Centre, Freeport, Baldwin, Oceanside, and Massapequa. This commercial intensity produces high pedestrian and bicycle activity that conflicts with the divided highway’s 55 mph design speed in many locations. The Suffolk County sections from Babylon through Patchogue retain a more traditional arterial character with signalized intersections, and east of Patchogue the highway narrows progressively as development thins.
Dangerous Sections
Valley Stream / Lynbrook (Nassau County western section): The western end of Sunrise Highway in Nassau County handles tremendous commercial traffic generated by the Green Acres Mall, the Boulevard shopping center, and dozens of smaller retail centers. Frequent driveway cuts, pedestrian crossings, and turning movements at signalized intersections create a hazardous mix with high-speed through traffic.
Freeport commercial corridor: The Freeport stretch of Sunrise Highway has one of the highest pedestrian injury rates on the corridor. Multiple studies by Nassau County and NYSDOT have identified this segment as requiring traffic calming and pedestrian infrastructure improvements.
Bay Shore / Brentwood interchange area (Suffolk County): The junction of Sunrise Highway with Veterans Memorial Highway (Route 27) and the approaches to Bay Shore creates a complex weaving environment. Commercial truck traffic heading to and from the Hauppauge Industrial Park adds to the mix.
Patchogue village area: As Sunrise Highway narrows approaching downtown Patchogue, the combination of on-street parking, pedestrian activity, and bicycle traffic with through highway speeds creates frequent conflicts.
Towns Along This Route
Current Conditions
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Recent Incidents
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Accident Statistics
Sunrise Highway’s crash statistics reflect its dual nature as both a commercial arterial and a de facto expressway. Pedestrian and bicycle crashes are elevated compared to the Southern State Parkway, while rear-end crashes dominate the divided highway sections. NYSDOT data consistently rank the Nassau County commercial sections among the top crash locations on Long Island.