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Sunrise Highway is a tale of two different roads. From Rosedale, Queens to West Babylon, the road is a six-lane divided highway interrupted frequently by traffic lights, and through central Nassau County, the speed limit runs anywhere from 30 MPH to 45 MPH, making Sunrise Highway an ineffective alternative to the Southern State Parkway. (At least the nearby LIRR provides a faster alternative.) Three grade-separated interchanges in Western Suffolk (at NY 110, CR 47 and CR 3) provide hints at what is to come along easterly stretches of Sunrise Highway.
Just east of Babylon Town Hall and the LIRR underpass, NY 27 becomes a full-fledged freeway with service roads. The Sunrise "Expressway" functions well, except in the area of the "Oakdale merge" (EXIT 46A for NY 27A / CR 85) due to the lack of continuous service roads and other substandard features through the "merge." There also is a little bit of congestion east of EXIT 53 (NY 112) in Patchogue, where six lanes narrow down to four and the service roads are a bit sporadic. There should be six lanes and continuous service roads east to EXIT 58 (CR 46) in Shirley to handle growth in the area.
East of Shirley, Sunrise Highway becomes decidedly more rural, and deserves a 65 MPH speed limit. Except on summer weekends, there usually is little congestion out to the highway's end in Shinnecock Hills. However, if you are traveling out to the Hampton on a summer Friday, get ready for the "Shinnecock squeeze" as the expressway converges onto local road CR 39.
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