County Route 111 (Suffolk County, New York)


County Route 111 is a north–south county route in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It runs northwest and southeast from New York State Route 27 at exit 62 near Eastport to Interstate 495 at exit 70 in Manorville. It serves as a connecting route between central Long Island and the Hamptons. The road is also known as Port Jefferson-Westhampton Beach Road, for the communities in which the route was originally intended to have its north and south endpoints in, respectively, and as Captain Daniel Roe Highway, for Captain Daniel Roe of Selden, who served in the French and Indian War and was a captain in the Revolutionary War.

Route description

CR 111 begins at an incomplete interchange with NY 27 that was intended to be upgraded from a diamond interchange to a cloverleaf with collector/distributor roads. It heads northwest through rural areas as a limited-access highway, connecting to CR 51 by way of a half-diamond interchange. Just past the junction, it crosses over a long dirt road named Toppings Path. West of Toppings Path, the highway becomes a divided highway and intersects Eastport–Manor Road in Manorville. From this point on, CR 111 is an at-grade road that follows what was once Eastport–Manor Road to I-495 exit 70.

History

The route was first planned by Suffolk County in the 1960s to serve as a link between major locations on the northern and southern shores. However, the only part of this route to ever be constructed is a small section between Eastport and Manorville.

Completed segment

The current CR 111 opened to traffic in early 1975. It runs from the Long Island Expressway in Manorville to Sunrise Highway in Eastport. It is a major link in the road network on Long Island. This is due to how it connects NY-27 to I-495, given the fact that it provides motorists with a link between the Hamptons and New York City, in addition to its suburbs in Nassau County and western Suffolk.

Unbuilt segments

As suggested by its name, Port Jefferson-Westhampton Beach Road was intended to travel between Port Jefferson and Westhampton Beach, and connect to several highways via interchanges: the east end of CR 90, the west end of the cancelled extension of CR 105, and a cancelled northern extension of CR 55. As originally planned, CR 111 would have been a highway extending from NY 25A and NY 347 in Port Jefferson Station to Montauk Highway in Westhampton Beach. In addition to being a convenient travel route, the routing would have been strategic, as well, as it was intentionally planned as a link between the deep-water port of Port Jefferson Harbor and the Calverton Naval Weapons Reserve Plant in Calverton to the former Suffolk County AFB in Westhampton Beach.
As per the 1970 Nassau-Suffolk Regional Planning Board recommendation, CR 111 would be transferred to the New York State Department of Transportation. This would have resulted in CR 111 being renamed as New York State Route 113.

Proposed routing

Heading southeast from NY 25A and NY 347, CR 111 was to replace Canal Road. It would then have interchanges with CR 83 and Coram–Mount Sinai Road, where it would have broken away from Canal Road and run along its south side. CR 111 would then replace Whiskey Road west of its intersection with Miller Place–Middle Island Road and Coram–Sweezeytown Road. It would break away from Whiskey Road east of Middle Island Boulevard, cross over Miller Place–Yaphank Road, and reunite with Whiskey Road again until the proposed interchange with CR 21. CR 111 would then shift to the northeast corner of CR 21 and Whiskey Road, running parallel with Whiskey Road until north of the intersection with Currans Road, where it would cross over Whiskey Road and remain along its south side until its terminus at CR 46 in Ridge.
East of William Floyd Parkway, CR 111 was intended to have an interchange and then curve south through Brookhaven State Park on land once formerly owned by the Brookhaven National Laboratory. After the interchange with NY 25, it would shift eastward along the northern border of Brookhaven Lab, crossing the Robert Cushman Murphy County Park twice. In between this Suffolk County Preserve area, it would run through the grounds of the Grumman Calverton Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant. It was to then follow along Wading River–Center Moriches Road before heading south again toward the Peconic River. The road would join its existing section on the northeast corner of the westbound service road on the Long Island Expressway at exit 70.
Continuing southeast from the existing highway's southeastern end at the interchange with NY 27, CR 111 was to run southeast across the Pine Barrens. It would run roughly parallel to CR 71 before intersecting with it at the Montauk Line of the Long Island Rail Road. It was then intended to replace CR 71 as it crossed Montauk Highway and headed through the village of Westhampton Beach towards the Atlantic Ocean coastline.

Safety improvements

In the past few years, there have been renewed efforts by local residents and political leaders to reduce the high speed, unsafe conditions, and traffic that plagues CR 111, particularly during peak travel times in the summer season. Notably, as the "Gateway to the Hamptons", CR 111 carries the majority of travelers who are making their way from the Long Island Expressway to NY 27, and vice versa. This causes perennial backups and frustrations on Friday and Sunday afternoons.
Local residents have been complaining for many years about the problem of the highway, particularly in Manorville, where CR 111 forms the backbone of the tiny hamlet and connects all of its services and stores. These complaints have crescendoed in recent years as the accident rate on the road has risen alarmingly; the latter has finally prompted attention from Suffolk County.
Through the lobbying of local representative Edward Romaine, the county is conducting the most thorough traffic studies to date. In the interim, a patchwork solution has been created by installing two brand new traffic lights at the offramps of the Long Island Expressway to control the traffic siphoning on and off. Once the peak summer season ends, the county will complete its traffic study and implement more long-term solutions, some of which may include additional or better-coordinated traffic signals, traffic calming devices, and a reduction in the speed limit of the road through Manorville's hamlet center.

Major intersections