The pandemic has shown us that we all need to focus more on staying healthy and bicycling is a great way to do it.  But many of us don’t feel safe cycling on our roads.  Thankfully, the NYS DOT recently completed the Ocean Parkway Coastal Greenway.   That’s great - if you live in Nassau County.  Just head to Cedar Creek Park in Seaford and ride the path down to Jones Beach.  Once there you can head east for 13 beautiful miles along some of the best beaches in the world!

Unfortunately, if you live in Suffolk, you’ll need to load your bike onto a car rack, drive down to Captree State Park and pay $8 to ride along the greenway.    That’s difficult if you don’t have a car or can’t afford the fee.  Back in the 90’s, when planners scheduled the greenway for construction, they also planned a path along Robert Moses Causeway so Suffolk residents could bike to the beach.  Over the years, as other projects took priority, the greenway was delayed and the path along the RMC was dropped.   But finally funds were found and the greenway was built! 

Now, what about the RMC path?  It was a fairly straightforward project to build back then and still is.  What has changed is our air quality (worse), need for physical activity (greater) and understanding of the effect exercising and enjoying the outdoors has on our health and wellbeing (enormous).  Plus, we have increased concerns that public facilities be accessible to as many people as possible.

Suffolk County residents should have the same access to the OPC Greenway that Nassau County residents have.  We are asking our NY state officials to give this project higher priority.   Money will always be tight, but there should be room in DOT’s budget to start designing and then build this path.