1936 that the land for extending the Meadowbrook from the Southern State Parkway to the Northern State Parkway had been acquired by Nassau County and plans for the road were being designed by the State Division of Highways. Moses stated that the funds would be requested at the next session of the New York State Legislature, with a completion date of 1939 to coincide with the opening of the 1939 World's Fair in Flushing, Queens. This would make it plausible for motorists to go from Flushing to Jones Beach State Park directly. The new extension would also alleviate congestion along several north–south highways in Nassau County and provide quicker access to Jones Beach. However, construction on the $10 million (1956 USD) highway was delayed until December 1953. On October 13, 1956, Governor Averell Harriman officially opened the new extension of the Meadowbrook State Parkway with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11:30 a.m. near the Jerusalem Avenue overpass. Robert Moses, Hempstead Town Supervisor Edward Larkin, and Nassau County Executive Holly Patterson also attended the event. After the ceremony, a motorcade led by Moses traveled from the Northern State Parkway south to Roosevelt Field Shopping Center. At Roosevelt Field, the board chairman for Roosevelt Field, Inc., William Zeckendorf, honored Moses and Harriman with brand new tankards made of sterling silver. On July 5, 1962, the New York State Assembly announced the opening of bids on the widening of a section of the Meadowbrook between Merrick Road and the Southern State Parkway. Bids were to be accepted on the project in August, with a price tag of $3.851 million (1962 USD). The construction would widen the segment from four lanes to six and add a new center median. The widening was prompted by the frequency of accidents along the stretch, and efforts to develop the project were sped up as a result. Completion was set for 1964, and the reconstruction and repaving was finished on November 18, 1964. Reconstruction concerns The interchange constructed between the Meadowbrook and Northern state parkways in 1956 was undergoing a new $61 million (1989 USD) reconstruction project in the late 1980s. Although it was previously redesigned in 1968, it was still the site of about 180 accidents per year—over six times the statewide average for accident frequency. The junction was to be rebuilt with three lanes in each direction for the Northern State in the middle of exit 31A,