The Great South Bay is a lagoon situated between Long Island and Fire Island , in the State of New York . It is about 45 miles (72 km) long and has an average depth of 4 feet 3 inches (1.3 m) and is 20 feet (6.1 m) at its deepest. It is protected from the Atlantic Ocean by Fire Island , a barrier island , as well as the eastern end of Jones Beach Island and Captree Island .
17-515: The Robert Moses Causeway adjoins the Great South Bay Bridge , which leads to Robert Moses State Park . The bay is accessible from the ocean through Fire Island Inlet , which lies between the western tip of Fire Island and the eastern tip of Jones Beach Island. The bay adjoins South Oyster Bay on its western end, and Patchogue and Moriches bays at the east end. In the early 17th century, European settlers first encountered
34-681: A vertical-lift bridge with a design similar to that of the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge . Later, the design of the Fire Island Bridge was changed to conform with that of the Great South Bay span, a 600-foot (180 m) steel-arch span with a 60-foot (18 m) clearance. The entire route is in Suffolk County . Fire Island Inlet Fire Island Inlet is an inlet on
51-406: A Suffolk County Sheriff's Office patrol vehicle. In 1967, a new span was built next to the original bridge, carrying three lanes of northbound traffic. The original bridge was reconfigured to carry southbound traffic. The Fire Island Inlet span was completed in 1964. By 1985 a dual span was proposed to alleviate traffic, but it was never constructed. When first proposed in 1938, the span was to be
68-634: A seven-mile stretch of land (the Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness ) prohibit any unauthorized parties from performing any kind of man-made changes, thus the inlet has remained open. There have been a number of ongoing public meetings discussing the future of the Inlet. All the other breaches were closed by the Army Corps of Engineers. In 2012, The Save the Great South Bay (STGSB) not-for-profit organization
85-535: Is named for the master builder and urban planner Robert Moses . The parkway, originally known as the Captree Causeway , connects West Islip on Long Island to the barrier beach islands, such as Captree Island, Jones Beach Island , and the western tip of Fire Island , to the south. It is designated New York State Route 908J ( NY 908J ), an unsigned reference route . The Robert Moses Causeway begins inside Robert Moses State Park , located on
102-660: The Great South Bay , via the Great South Bay Bridge , the New York City skyline can be faintly seen on a clear day. Originally a toll bridge , the remnants of the former toll plaza for the Great South Bay Bridge can be found on the north side in West Islip. At the cloverleaf interchange with NY 27A , the third northbound lane becomes the deceleration ramp, and from there the rest of
119-637: The clams consumed throughout the region and even the country. The first oysters to be exported from the US to Europe came from Great South Bay. The Great South Bay has, at least since the end of the Ice Age, been home to many generations of horseshoe crabs. By the latter 20th century, a significant percentage of the habitat was lost. Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the largest storm to affect the region since 1938 , made landfall with devastating impact to Fire Island seashores, including multiple breaches. The largest of these
136-465: The Southern State. The first sprawling trestle crossing from West Islip to Captree Island was completed in 1951. The structure is 3,206.2 metres (2.0 mi) in length with a middle clearance for boats of 18.2 metres (59.7 ft). Originally, one lane was for southbound traffic and the other for northbound traffic. In a bridge opening ceremony, the first car to drive over the bridge was
153-456: The native Montaukett Indian Nation. Among the earliest British families were the Smith, Carman and Hewlett families. Long Island's South Shore, adjacent to the bay, now includes the communities of Lindenhurst , Babylon , Islip , Oakdale , Sayville , Bayport , Blue Point , Patchogue , Bellport , Shirley , and Mastic Beach . In the late nineteenth century Great South Bay provided many of
170-554: The parkway is four lanes wide. The parkway soon takes a slight northeastern turn and later rises to move over Union Boulevard ( County Route 50 or CR 50), the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road , and Orinoco Drive with no access to either roads. Instead, another cloverleaf interchange is available at NY 27 . The road remains elevated as it crosses over Muncey Road and then runs along
187-491: The south shore of Long Island , New York . It connects the Great South Bay with the Atlantic Ocean , passing between Robert Moses State Park (the western end of Fire Island ) on the south and Oak Beach and Captree State Park (the eastern end of Jones Beach Island ) on the north. The inlet is directly south of West Islip , the nearest town on the main part of Long Island. Fire Island Inlet has evolved over
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#1732793363351204-617: The vicinity of the junction. The parkway then traverses the State Boat Channel Bridge by way of a 665-foot (203 m)-long bascule bridge modeled after the Mill Basin Drawbridge in Mill Basin, Brooklyn . The north foot of the bridge contains an unnumbered interchange to a private road on Captree Island, where the rest of the road is surrounded by protected land. On the section that crosses over
221-571: The west side of Casamento Park, before approaching its northern terminus at the interchange with the Southern State Parkway . The north-to-eastbound ramp to the Southern State Parkway contains an interchange of its own with CR 57 (Bay Shore Road), because that ramp's traffic misses the Southern State's exit to CR 57. The other ramps exist on a partial cloverleaf just west of Bay Shore Road's interchange with
238-544: The western tip of Fire Island. From here, the parkway heads north across the Fire Island Inlet on the Fire Island Inlet Bridge as a two-lane undivided road. On the north side of the inlet, the parkway becomes enters Captree State Park and approaches a cloverleaf interchange with Ocean Parkway . The parkway becomes a five-lane freeway with three northbound lanes and two southbound lanes in
255-475: The years due to natural processes, especially longshore drift . Jones Island and Fire Island at one time were connected. The Fire Island Light was at the mouth of the inlet when built in 1825, but is now five miles (8.0 km) east of the inlet. The northwest side of the mouth of the inlet is known as the Sore Thumb, and is a man-made barrier that was created to try to combat the extensive erosion of
272-549: Was at Old Inlet , south of Bellport. Residents were concerned it would have effects on tidal increases and potential flooding, but it has allowed the bay to relieve some of its captive water, which has improved the salinity and nitrogen levels in the bay. After roughly 75 years, the bay began flushing itself out which may improve the water condition within the bay. Regulations set forth by the US Government National Wildlife Preserve, which has
289-563: Was formed in order to work towards better conservation of the water and its beachfronts. Save The Great South Bay has raised awareness of boat sewage dumping in The Great South Bay as a serious ecological concern. 40°41′25″N 73°06′07″W / 40.69028°N 73.10194°W / 40.69028; -73.10194 Robert Moses Causeway The Robert Moses Causeway is an 8.10-mile (13.04 km) state parkway in Suffolk County, New York on Long Island . It
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