with a 441% increase in population from 1900 to 1930, it was becoming more urgent to secure open land for parks. The agency was given the right to condemn land for these parks, which led to conflict with locals and other agencies who felt it isolated them from getting money in the development craze. Bethpage State Park was created from land originally owned by Benjamin Yoakum, a railroad executive. In 1923, Yoakum opened a golf course on the land with 18 holes and a country club. Eight years later, in 1931, the LISPC leased the property from Yoakum. It was made into public land a year later, at which point the property was renamed the Bethpage Golf Club. On May 24, 1934, the land which had become Bethpage State Park was sold to the LISPC. In similarity to parkways designed to access Jones Beach State Park, Moses designed the Bethpage State Parkway as a road that would have a rustic environment. This would include the use of wooden light posts instead of steel, wooden guide rails, and concrete overpasses designed with a stone face. Along with these designs, Moses also confirmed that the parkways would remain free of commercial vehicles and truck traffic. The parkway was designed with a line of woodlands alongside both lanes. Construction began on the parkway in 1934 even though a date of completion for the rest of the Long Island parkway system—which the Bethpage was intended to connect to—had yet to be established. On November 14, 1936, the recreational parkway was opened to traffic along with the Laurelton Parkway in Queens. Automobiles lined up at the Southern State Parkway in North Massapequa to travel the new parkway, which cost a total of $1.05 million (1936 USD). The ceremonial ribbon was cut at noon, after which Moses spoke praise to the federal government for its assistance and discussed how Bethpage State Park was previously inaccessible. The event was followed by a luncheon at the park. Extensions { "type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [ { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "stroke": "#000000", "title": "Bethpage State Parkway (Built Segment)", "stroke-width": 3 }, "geometry": { "type": "LineString", "coordinates": [ [ -73.45262646675111, 40.70584499294079 ], [ -73.45277851447464, 40.7070617825859 ], [ -73.45380429178478, 40.708355812390735 ], [ -73.4561805613339, 40.711263380091495 ], [ -73.45728697255255, 40.71341770154361 ], [ -73.45843227580191, 40.71673697876637 ], [ -73.45942217856647, 40.71837438385826 ], [ -73.46082279458643, 40.71969989394381 ], [ -73.46322814933957, 40.72129072530959 ], [ -73.4652280714363, 40.72302108129253 ], [ -73.46687042154373, 40.72474758094341