Nassau County acquired the right-of-way for an extension to the Northern State Parkway in 1936, and the highway was originally intended to be finished for the 1939 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens.

Reconstruction projects in the latter half of the 20th century have caused local protests by entities such as the Town of Hempstead and the Village of Westbury.

The parkway briefly proceeds northwest through Jones Beach before turning northward and crossing South Oyster Bay on a six-lane causeway.

After Loop Parkway, the Meadowbrook heads northwest across another water channel and becomes a divided highway with a large center median.

The golf course leads to nearby exit M9, a cloverleaf interchange with Merrick Road (unsigned County Route 27 or CR 27) in the Freeport section of Hempstead.

[3] At the northern edge of the park, the Meadowbrook enters exit M6, a partial cloverleaf interchange with several flyover ramps connecting to the Southern State Parkway.

The highway passes over NY 102 (Front Street) with no connection before leaving Barnum Woods and bending northward near exit M5 and the northbound half of exit M4, which serve NY 24 (Hempstead Turnpike) and several other local streets by way of a series of service roads in the vicinity of Eisenhower Park, Nassau Coliseum, and Mitchel Field.

[3] Continuing west, the Meadowbrook State Parkway enters exit M2, a cloverleaf interchange with Zeckendorf Boulevard (unsigned CR 260) adjacent to nearby Roosevelt Field Mall.

The busiest part in this stretch lies between the Babylon Turnpike and the Southern State Parkway, which handles 95,600 vehicles on an average day.

Construction of the Meadowbrook Causeway began in May 1933 with a $5,050,000 loan (1933 USD) given from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to the Long Island State Park Commission in April 1933.

[6] The Meadowbrook Causeway was designed as a 5-mile (8.0 km) road from the Southern State Parkway in Freeport to Jones Beach with six bridges across channels of South Oyster Bay.

During a speech Moses cited praises to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation for donating the money and letting the LISPC and Jones Beach State Parkway Authority do the work without interference.

Other speakers that afternoon praised Moses and the LISPC, and New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia showed up late to give his congratulations.

[9] In 1947, the LISPC approved $37,000 (1947 USD) to construct a stone ornate gasoline station along the Meadowbrook in Jones Beach State Park.

[12] 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.

[16][17][18][19] In 1975, NYSDOT, which took control of the parkways from the LISPC, began demolishing some of the stations – including the Meadowbrook plaza, which ended up being one of the first buildings to go.

[20] By 1997, over two decades after demolition, the station site became a problematic place for people parking and walking up the Meadowbrook and Loop to fish on the bridges.

The Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court ruled on that NYSDOT had to provide a new environmental report by May 12 of that year or face having the reconstruction shut down.

[29] A settlement was eventually reached between NYSDOT and the Village of Westbury, allowing construction on the interchange to restart in February 1990; the reconstruction project was ultimately completed in 1991.

Construction was causing rush hour traffic to back up for miles near the Hempstead Turnpike (NY 24) exit, and evidence showed no work had been done for several months.

[35][36] One such feature added as part of this project was a raised median barrier on Glen Cove Road to prevent illegal turns from being made.