New York State Route 454

NY 454 approaching the Sunken Meadow State Parkway in Commack

NY 454 begins at a fork along NY 25 (Jericho Turnpike) in Commack. The route heads southeastward as the four-lane Veterans Memorial Highway, passing through a large commercial district built up around NY 454's interchange with the Sunken Meadow State Parkway (exit SM2). From there, NY 454 continues eastward through a residential district for several miles and passes to the south of Whitman Hollow Park. The arterial continues southeastward through local residential areas with four lanes before meeting NY 347 and the Northern State Parkway at an interchange in Hauppauge. The junction serves as the western terminus of NY 347 and the eastern terminus of the Northern Parkway. NY 347 and NY 454 become concurrent, crossing through Hauppauge and residential properties for the next two miles (3.2 km), intersecting with local roads. After bending around Forestwood Park, Routes 454 and 347 follow the town line and pass the Stoubrough Golf Course, where NY 347 forks to the northeast.[3]

From there, NY 454 turns to the southeast, intersecting with NY 111 (Wheeler Road) and narrowing to two lanes. After turning further to the south, the highway intersects with CR 67, the former alignment of the Long Island Motor Parkway. Here, NY 454 returns to four lanes and meets the Long Island Expressway (Interstate 495) and its frontage roads. The route enters the village of Islandia and enters a large commercial district, where the route intersects with CR 100 (Old Nichols Road). After crossing the Long Island Rail Road, NY 454 enters Connetquot River State Park, bends to the east and traverses the park. Crossing over the Connetquot River, the arterial crosses a hiking trail and soon leaves the park.[3]

NY 454 westbound between NY 111 and NY 347 in Hauppauge

NY 454 continues as a four-lane arterial through a large commercial district, intersecting with CR 93 (Lakeland Avenue). There, the highway passes Long Island MacArthur Airport and bends to the east through another large commercial district remaining unchanged for several miles. The route turns to the southeast at Coates Avenue as a four-lane arterial for the last two miles (3.2 km) of NY 454. About three miles (4.8 km) from Lakeland Avenue, NY 454 connects to the Sunrise Highway (NY 27) at exit 51, a partial interchange in Holbrook. Here, the NY 454 designation ends and its right-of-way merges into the eastbound service road of NY 27. There is no access to westbound Sunrise Highway from NY 454 itself; instead, the connection is made by way of nearby Broadway Avenue.[3]

NY 454 in Islip approaching the Long Island Expressway (I-495)

Construction first began in 1948 for a new freeway from Commack to Holbrook by the Suffolk County Department of Public Works. The $1.4 million (1949 USD) project was funded by federal aid and was designated as a new memorial for the war veterans. People had been arguing since 1947 to get a new county-funded war veteran memorial installed in Suffolk, including a number of other suggested projects such as trees at a park in Yaphank to a new general-use hospital. On April 30, 1949, the sides came to agreement to name the new highway for the war veterans, and two agencies were hired to come up with a name. The design for the freeway between Commack and Holbrook included a 145-foot-wide (44 m) right-of-way, and the road was constructed under the supervision of the New York State Department of Public Works.[4]

Construction continued throughout 1949, with the new Veterans Memorial Highway opening on January 25, 1950. The new 13.62-mile (21.92 km) highway was designated as CR 76 for 4.18 miles (6.73 km) through Smithtown and CR 78 for the remaining 9.44 miles (15.19 km) in the town of Islip. The new freeway's wide right-of-way was built with room for additional lanes if the situation became necessary. Although the state of New York and the federal government both helped aid the project, the control of the new highway was turned over to the Suffolk County Superintendent of Highways.[5] In March 1968, CR 76 was truncated to begin at NY 347 while CR 78 was extended northwestward over CR 76's former routing to NY 25 in Commack.[2]

In 1970, the Nassau–Suffolk Regional Planning Board brought up plans to convert CR 78 into a six-lane expressway with new service roads. A similar project was planned for the nearby four-lane NY 347 through Islip.[6] To aid this, ownership and maintenance of CR 78 was transferred to the New York State Department of Transportation on March 29, 1972, receiving the designation of NY 454.[2] The state immediately expanded NY 454 to six lanes, with three in each direction from Holbrook to the terminus of NY 347. In 1977, the state designated the portion of the highway in Hauppague as both NY 454 and NY 347 after it became clear that the Hauppauge Spur of the Long Island Expressway would not be constructed.[7] The plans to expand NY 454 and NY 347 into full-blown freeways were discarded by the 1980s.

During the 1990s, the Department of Transportation looked into the expansion of NY 347 and NY 454. The studies suggested that the state would add one additional traffic lane in each direction, giving most of the highway six lanes with eight travel lanes along the concurrency in Hauppauge. The new lanes would also be capable of holding rapid-commute vehicles for the Long Island Rapid Commute.[8] The interchange where Routes 347 and 454 fork in Hauppague is slated to go from an at-grade fork to a grade-separated interchange. The project, which will cost $359 million (2009 USD) was scheduled to be completed between 2012 and 2015.[9]

The entire route is in Suffolk County.

Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Commack	0.00	0.00	NY 25 (Jericho Turnpike) – South Huntington, Smithtown	Western terminus
	0.53	0.85	Sunken Meadow State Parkway south – Bay Shore	No entrance ramps
Smithtown–Hauppauge line	2.19	3.52	Northern State Parkway west – New York NY 347 begins	Western terminus of NY 347; eastern terminus of Northern State Parkway; no westbound entrance
Hauppauge	4.38	7.05	NY 347 east – Port Jefferson	Eastern terminus of concurrency with NY 347
	4.62	7.44	NY 111 – Islip, Smithtown
Islandia	6.10	9.82	I-495 – New York, Riverhead	Exit 57 on I-495
Ronkonkoma–Bohemia line	10.51	16.91	CR 93 (Lakeland Avenue) to NY 27 west
	11.32	18.22	Johnson Avenue (CR 112) – MacArthur Airport
Holbrook	13.18	21.21	Broadway Avenue (CR 18) to NY 27 west – New York
Holbrook–Bayport line	13.67	22.00	NY 27 east (Sunrise Highway) / CR 97 (Nicolls Road) – Montauk	Eastern terminus; exit 51 on NY 27
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

• List of county routes in Suffolk County, New York

Wikimedia Commons has media related to New York State Route 454.

• New York State Route 454 at New York Routes
• NYCRoads – Veterans Memorial Highway (Route 454)