New York State Route 347
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| NY Route 347 | |||||||||
| Smithtown Bypass Neconset-Port Jefferson Highway |
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| Length: | 14.48 mi[1] (23.3 km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | 1966 | ||||||||
| West end: |   NSP/NY 454 in Hauppauge |
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| East end: |  NY 25A in Mount Sinai |
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| Counties: | Suffolk | ||||||||
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New York State Route 347 is an east-west highway on Long Island that spans between Hauppauge and south of Port Jefferson, New York.
Contents |
[edit] Major intersections
| Mile | Road(s) | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | Northern NY 454 |
Hauppauge | Western terminus of NY 347/454 duplex. |
| 2.2 | NY 454 |
Hauppauge | Eastern terminus of duplex. |
| 3.0 |  NY 111 |
Hauppauge | Hauppauge Road. |
| Northern |
Village of the Branch | Unbuilt extension. | |
| 4.9 |  CR 16 |
Smithtown | Terry Road. |
| 6.9 |  NY 25 |
Nesconset | Jericho Turnpike. |
| 9.2 |  CR 97 |
Lake Grove | Nicoll's Road. |
 CR 110 |
East Setauket | Formerly proposed A.O. Smith Turnpike. | |
| 13.4 |  NY 112 |
Port Jefferson Station | Patchogue Road north of NY 347. |
| 14.5 | NY 25A |
Mount Sinai | Hallock Avenue |
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crossing, no access | Concurrency termini | County | Decommissioned | Unconstructed | Closed |
[edit] History
Originally built by Suffolk County in the 1950s, the road was one of two county roads. Southwest of New York State Route 25 it was known as Suffolk CR 85(Smithtown Bypass), and northeast of NY 25, it was desiganted Suffolk CR 80(Nesconset-Port Jefferson Highway). Many have viewed the road as an extension of the Northern State Parkway east of Veterans Memorial Highway in Hauppauge, however Robert Moses planned an altogether different right-of-way for an extension of the Northern State. In fact, the Parkway was planned to have an interchange with the Smithtown Bypass west of Suffolk CR 16 (Terry Road).
New York State acquired the roads in 1966 and designated it New York State Route 347. Suffolk CRs 85 and 80 were moved to Montauk Highway inconjunction with New York State Route 27A east of Great River. Suffolk County hoped that by allowing them to do so, they'd have an easier time upgrading the road into the limited-access highway it was originally meant to be. Efforts to upgrade the highway into a limited-access highway have frequently been stalled by rampant development, the high cost of land acqusistion, and community activism. When the Smith Haven Mall was built in 1969, it became a major attraction, and sent a message to developers that Route 347 was up for grabs.
For six years, the western terminus of Route 347 was with two county roads, Suffolk County Road 76(which it shared a block-long concurrency with) and the western terminus of Suffolk County Road 78. In March 1968, Suffolk CR 76 was eliminated west of NY 347. When New York State acquired the Veterans Memorial Highway on March 29, 1972, it put both termini of NY 347 at state highways as it originally planned, even though the western terminus wasn't where NYSDOT originally wanted it (see "Hauppauge Spur" below).
In 1973, the New York State Department of Transportation tried once again to transform Route 347 into an Expressway again, only this proposal included the widening of NY 25 west of Route 347 and the addition of frontage roads along Route 25.[2] This too, was cancelled by community opposition, as well as revived plans to upgrade the road again between 1987-1988, and has been stalled again by the same forces that have kept it from being upgraded for decades. A grass-roots organization called the Committee for a New 347 has advocated turning NY 347 into a limited-access greenway.
In 1977, NY 347 was multiplexed with NY 454 to the interchange with Northern State Parkway.
[edit] Hauppauge Spur
Once New York State acquired Nesconset Highway and the Smithtown Bypass from Suffolk County, they planned to add a spur directly to the Long Island Expressway. Part of the spur was to replace the southern half of New York State Route 901A.[3]
[edit] Suffolk County Road 26
Another extension was planned by the Suffolk County Department of Public Works, known as the North Brookhaven Expressway (Suffolk CR 26), which would've began west of Pipe-Stave Hollow Road and ended at the intersection of New York State Route 25A and William Floyd Parkway (County Route 46). Like so many other highway proposals of the late-20th century, blind anti-highway activism thwarted this project as well.[4]
[edit] Miscellanea
[edit] McNamara development & bribery scandal
As if things weren't bad enough for efforts to improve Route 347, a local automotive dealer and development tycoon named John M. McNamara cluttered the road with new developments. A shopping center between Old Town Road and Arrowhead Lane which had a service road in front of it, had fallen on hard times. McNamara took over the reconstruction of the shopping center in the late-1980's as part of an effort to revise it, which unfortunatley included the dismantling of the service road. His project failed, but eventually it was discovered that he was bribing various government officials in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, Village of Port Jefferson, and even the New York State Department of Transportation. This revelation should've curbed development and made improving the road easier, but it didn't.
[edit] References
- ^ New York Routes - New York State Route 347
- ^ New York State Department of Transportation pamphlet: Proposed Improvements; Route 347 Veterans Memorial Highway to Route 25A/Route 25 Sunny Drive to Hawkins Avenue (1973)
- ^ Unveil Hauppauge Spur Plan (Sunken Meadow Messenger; February 26, 1967)
- ^ Suffolk County Roads 26-50
