Officials from across the metropolitan area Friday approved a new five-year transportation plan that includes projects for improving the Oakdale Merge — the congested interchange where the Sunrise and Montauk highways converge — and the Meadowbrook-Southern State Parkway interchange in Hempstead Town.

The approval of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council’s plan for 2026-2030 had earlier been uncertain because Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine had threatened to veto it last month unless more funding was included for Long Island.

The council decides on hundreds of projects related to highways and mass transit to prioritize for federal funding in New York City, the Lower Hudson Valley and the Island. Projects included on the list aren't guaranteed to get federal mone

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