Replacement of the Smith Point Bridge will cost over 75 million dollars, requires reconstruction of a mile of Wm. Floyd Parkway, eliminate existing ball courts and play areas, and necessitate extensive wetland mitigation.

Smith Point Park, which includes the ocean beach, access to Narrows Bay, hundreds of camping sites and the Flight 800 Memorial, is the most popular County owned facility. The County’s interest in protecting its revenue generating investment in the park is understandable, and no one seriously questions the need for replacement of the bridge.

Unfortunately, the project includes no benefit to the community most affected by the project. As with the wind power cable landing at Smith Point that also required Suffolk County’s approval, there is no trade off for the 3 years of disruptions and inconveniences caused by the bridge replacement project.

In 2016, our organization requested preservation of the current bridge landings on the North and South shores as a Highline type public facilities.  For 6 years, we never even received the courtesy of a response. Finally, in May 2022, we received a letter that misstated key facts concerning the project and rejected the High Line concept.

Community outreach has been sparse, at best: just two public meetings in 6 years. At its May 2022 Zoom meeting, DPW claimed, without evidence, that it revised the project to include a fishing pier based on “public input” - even though there had been no public meetings since 2016.

At the end of the day, a new bridge will be built, and construction disruptions and inconveniences will cease.  And what improvements will this blue collar community see? According to the latest plans, the answer is essentially none - just the same traffic heading to and from the beach as fast as possible.