Then & Now: The Long Island Motor Parkway in East Williston
A section of the Long Island Motor Parkway was built in East Williston between the Oyster Bay Branch of the Long Island Railroad and Roslyn Road. Since no houses have ever been built in this area, the parkway here has been preserved for over 100 years..often hidden by Mother Nature. The "Then & Now" images are amazing:
Then-1928
The Motor Parkway in East Williston looking east from the Oyster Bay line of the LIRR.
On the right is the Roslyn Lodge built in 1910. The Roslyn Road Motor Parkway Bridge can in seen in the distance.
Then- May 29, 2003
This is the same view looking east 75 years later. The Motor Parkway had been overrun by bushes, poison ivy and fallen trees .
Then- August 4, 2006
From 2003 to 2007, several dedicated LIMPers attempted to restore this section of the parkway to its prior glory.
Then- February 1, 2007
Looking east again, the 16-foot wide parkway was reborn. Even the three-foot-wide concrete extensions, added in the early 1930s, could be seen.
Then- August 29, 2011
One day after Hurricane Irene hit Long Island, this section was again in real bad shape.
Now- September 22, 2011
Amazingly, over the last three weeks, this section of the Motor Parkway has been cleared again. Heavy-duty LIPA crews came in and cleared the right-of-way and trees surrounding their utility lines seen on the left. Way to go, LIPA. Good job!!
Links to related posts on VanderbiltCupRaces.com:
The Bridge over Roslyn Road and the Roslyn Lodge
Comments
Howard - great pics. I love to walk this area and often imagine what it must have felt like to go motoring there. Glad I’m back on the e-mail list.
I am amazed at the work you guys did to clear it before and after IRENE. I rode my bike from FOXCROFT RD (a cul de sac) just west of the LIRR trestle to Roslyn Rd. as a short cut to my uncle’s house in Mineola. Also, I delivered mail to that toll house which is now a residence,and a secret.
Hi Bob:
The credit for the clean-up post-Irene goes to LIPA.
Here is what the Mineola Lodge looked like in the 1930s.
http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/index.php/blog/article/wednesday_december_11_2008_the_mineola_lodge_and_the_long_island_motor_park
Howard