Suffolk County is searching for a solution to the chronic overflow of cars at Meschutt Beach County Park during the summer season.
On sunny summer days, the throng of beachgoers that flow to the only bayfront county-run bathing beach on the South Fork quickly fill the beach parking lot. Later-arriving cars soon begin to line the roadsides of the access roads and take up parking spots that are intended for boat owners and guests at the nearby Shinnecock Marina, which the county also owns.
Last week, the Suffolk County Legislature approved $250,000 in funding for the Department of Public Works to study a redesign of the entrance roads and parking lots in the hope of finding a way to better accommodate the crowds, Legislator Ann Welker said.
“It’s very, very busy — on nice beach days the traffic is overwhelming,” Welker said. “There’s more cars than parking spaces, and they overflow into the marina. So the DPW can take a look and see if realigning the ingress and egress roads might help relieve some of that overflow.”
Welker said the work this winter will only be exploring the possibilities for redesigning the traffic flow, and that no work will be undertaken in time for next summer’s crowds.
Michael Wright on Dec 3, 2025