Being that this is Thanksgiving, I feel nostalgic. So, I have chosen to write a review on a road…read morethat brought me to one of the first Thanksgiving dinners that I remember back in the late 70's at the Coram Diner. Considering that it has been ages that I ate in the Coram Pond Diner, I have decided to review N.Y. State Route 112, the highway that the Coram Pond Diner is off of.
N.Y. 112 is a major north to south highway connecting Montauk Highway/County Route 80 in Patchogue in the South Shore to NY Route 25A in Port Jefferson Station in the North Shore. It follows the right-of-way of the Patchogue to Port Jefferson street car line. In 2013, even with the NY DOT improvements the highway is still antiquated and dangerous. This review follows NY 112 northbound and reviews it in segments separated by major highways.
Montauk Highway to County Route 99 Woodside Avenue
From its southernmost point to Woodside Avenue, NY 112 is a four lane highway that travels through a commercial stretch of Patchogue and Medford. This includes an overpass carrying the road across Sunrise Highway. In recent years, a Shop Rite replaced a Home Depot to the south of a Path Mark making it a competitive area for supermarket shopping.
County Route 99 to I-495 Long Island Expressway
North of Woodside Avenue, NY 112 is a major Long Island center of car dealerships. Unfortunately this stretch of highway would make an awful automobile commercial. North of Woodside Avenue, NY 112 narrows to a congested two lane highway with a central turning lane. Because of an element of drivers it is a suicide lane. Throughout this stretch of road, NY 112 travels through the hamlet of Medford. Fortunately County Route 83, which is parallel a mile to the west relieves some of the congestion. In similar fashion to much of NY 112, traffic signals (which there are more and more of) controls the rate of traffic. After the stretch of car dealerships, NY 112 passes under the main line Long Island Railroad bridge where it temporary widens to 4 lanes when it approaches the Long Island Expressway.
I-495 Long Island Expressway to NY 25
When I lived on Long Island, the stretch of NY 112 at the Long Island Expressway was known for flooding. But things are worst at the next traffic signal. On Yelp the intersection of NY 112 at Horse Block Road is listed as the Most Dangerous Intersection in Suffolk County. This is nothing compared to the next several miles of road. North of the Most Dangerous Intersection NY 112 narrows to two lanes. I remember this as a dangerous road. Turning lanes were absent causing motorists to maneuver to the shoulder to avoid hitting a car waiting to turn left. This is a straight stretch of road all the way into Coram. North of Medford after Granny Road NY 112 follows a downhill incline near Bold Hill, which is one of the highest points on Long Island. This strech of highway is known for fatal accidents. It is still dangerous.
NY 25 to NY 347
In Coram, NY 112 meets up with NY 25 at an intersection plagued with so many crashes that it had to be redeveloped. This is where the Coram Diner is. In recent years acres of pine barrens have been paved over for condominiums and commercial development on this stretch of nY 112. The highway capacity has not been able to keep up with the demand. Very recently, the NY State DOT redeveloped the road. The thing is they caved into the environmental interests without doing what was best for safety. I am a die-hard hiker and many of my reviews are about parks. However when I am on the road, I don't wan't to play Russian Roulette or be the victim of road rage for driving safely. This section of road has been very dangerous and people have lost their lives on it. As it travels toward Port Jefferson it is bordered by shopping centers, housing developments from the 60s and a few years ago to furniture stores, more car dealerships, and suburbia. This land use attracts heavy traffic. Instead of the NY DOT widening NY 112 to a four lane road with aesthetic landscaping, they added a turning lane with nice landscaping and much needed traffic signals.
NY 347 to NY 25A
On the last mile of roadway, NY 112 widens to four lanes as it passes through a suburban commercial area of Port Jefferson Station. Near the terminus of the Port Jefferson Long Island Railroad line it ends at NY 25A.
My thoughts:
I feel that NY 112 is a major road that is also the rough border of eastern and western Suffolk. It is one of the few N.Y. state routes connecting Long Islands South Shore to North Shore. Because it is such a major component of Long Island's transportation infrastructure, I feel that it should be four lanes all the way. If the environment is so important, why did so many acres of pine barrens get plowed over for development? I also feel that the NY 112 designation should be extended to overlap with NY 25A to the Port Jefferson ferry dock.
