The Setauket to Port Jefferson Station Greenway

During the 1960’s, the New York State Department of Transportation acquired a 3.3-mile stretch of property running from East Setauket to Port Jefferson Station to construct a highway bypass for car and truck traffic. In the 1990’s, members of the Three Village community, and government officials began working on an alternative plan for this undeveloped 150 foot corridor, which borders on three county parklands and is close to several residential neighborhoods. Community activists, state and local officials, and the New York State Department of Transportation eventually envisioned a greenbelt for this area.

Due to the efforts of Assemblyman Steve Englebright, state funding was made available to initiate the project, and supplemental federal funds were secured through the office of Congressional Representative Tim Bishop.  Town of Brookhaven Councilman Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld provided local support for each phase of the project. Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn has been an important and active voice in helping to maintain and enhance the Greenway.

In 2009, the first portion of the Greenway was completed: a one-mile span between Gnarled Hollow Road and Lower Sheep Pasture Road. In 2012-13 construction on the final phase of the Greenway was completed, expanding the trail to the east and west for a total length of approximately four miles.

In 2013, the Friends of the Greenway hosted a Ten Year Anniversary Celebration at the trail’s center point. In attendance were many of our Trail Stewards, community supporters, Town, County, and State officials and neighbors of the trail!

Today, the Friends of the Greenway are working with the North Shore Rails to Trails Alliance in an effort to extend the bicycle path from Port Jefferson Station to Wading River. This project would create a thirteen-mile ribbon of bike paths on the North Shore and join dozens of neighborhoods, schools, parks, and businesses. The North Shore Rails to Trail will open this year!

For more information about the Greenway, go to our “Greenway” tab in the Menu Bar.