Construction and Opening
The Sagtikos State Parkway was first proposed in the 1920s as a connector between the Northern and Southern state parkways. In order to construct the freeway, the heirs of the late David Gardiner, who owned the historic Sagtikos Manor in West Bay Shore, donated 197 acres (80 ha) of land to the Long Island State Park Commission (LISPC). This donation was considered unusual by the commission as it would break up the family's estate, which was constructed in 1692 and served George Washington in 1780. In addition to this donation, James Fisher, a nearby resident, gave the commission 23.5 acres (9.5 ha) of land north of the Gardiner property and another 0.3 acres (0.12 ha) north of the Fisher property to ensure that LISPC had the necessary right-of-way for the new parkway.
The right-of-way that the parkway was built on was originally part of a private road leading to Sagtikos Manor. The parkway was designed to have connections with the Sunken Meadow Spur (the future Sunken Meadow State Parkway) and the Captree State Parkway (now known as the Robert Moses Causeway) proposed by New York City highway engineer Robert Moses. On November 13, 1949, a new interchange between the Southern State Parkway and Bay Shore Road was opened to traffic. This interchange would eventually serve as the Southern State Parkway's junction with the Sagtikos, Heckscher and Captree state parkways. Proposals conceived at this time called for grading on the new Sagtikos State Parkway to begin in early 1950.
In March 1950, $3 million (1950 USD) was earmarked out of a $104.5 million budget for the start of construction on the parkway. The contract for paving 4.76 miles (7.66 km) of the Sagtikos Parkway was awarded by the New York State Department of Public Works on June 7, 1951, to Hudson Contracting Corporation of Kew Gardens, who entered a bid of $1,407,037 (1951 USD) for the project. The remainder of the parkway was paved as part of a contract valued around $418,000 (1951 USD) and let by the state on July 11. A 3-mile (4.8 km) stretch of the Northern State Parkway was also built as part of the project. On September 29, 1952, an extension of the Northern State Parkway, Southern State Parkway, and the entire length of the Sagtikos State Parkway were opened without celebration. Robert Moses commented that the completed parkway reflected LISPC's objective to construct well-designed recreational facilities.
Read more about this topic: Sagtikos State Parkway, History
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