Route 48 slated for county sea level rise and coastal resiliency projects

The Suffolk County Department of Public Works allocated $2 million of its 2026 budget for preliminary engineering costs to address storm surge and tidal flooding, with Southold’s Route 48 to benefit from the county coastal resiliency improvements. 

Sea levels in Southold are expected to rise 16 inches by 2050 and up to 34 inches by 2100, based on a Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Planning 2024 coastal resiliency study. 

While tidal flooding has not occurred, Suffolk County DPW director of highway design Jeff Dawson said storm surge is a concern, especially in coming years with projected sea level rise. 

“By 2055, we still don’t see any tidal flooding happening, but … storm surge is going to be even more so,” Mr. Dawson said at a Southold Town Board work session on July 22. “By 2100, if nothing’s done, we do see tidal flooding. So clearly, we need to do something.”

There is no timeline for construction yet, since logistics will have to be worked out between the county, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Army Corps of Engineers before plans are finalized. 

County Road 60 in Southampton and County Road 96 in West Babylon will also benefit from the $2 million funding for preliminary engineering. That funding will bring in coastal resiliency experts from New York and throughout the country to identify the best path forward. 

“There’s going to be a back and forth … on what we do,” Mr. Dawson said. “Once we know what we’re going to do, we would then plug that into the capital program, possibly grant funding and things like that. But we need to figure out what we’re doing and why we’re doing it before we can start getting into funding the actual design and construction costs.”

Sand could be part of the solution, Mr. Dawson said, but more likely than not there will be other materials used in coastal hardening measures. 

Several public meetings regarding work on Route 48 will be held in the future to receive community input on the project. 

Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski said the town is working with state legislators to address similar challenges faced by Route 25. 

“We want to make sure this effort is going to be duplicated at the state level,” Mr. Krupski said.