One week after Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski said traffic light could be coming by fall to the deadly intersection in Cutchogue where a limo crash took the lives of four young women, work was in progress today on the first stages of the project.
According to workers at the intersection of Depot Lane and County Road 48, employed by Johnson Electrical Construction, work was ongoing but before the project could commence, PSEG would have to come in and install higher, larger poles to support the weight of the traffic signal, as well as higher wires.
Justin Meyers, spokesman for the Suffolk County Department of Public Works, said today that the project was proceeding as planned and had not been accelerated due to the tragic accident.
“It was really one of those completely coincidental situations,” he said. “The light is not being put in due to the accident and it’s not being accelerated because of it.”
What was happening today was preliminary work that had to be done before PSEG could proceed, he said.
Meyers added, “Frankly, even if the light has been in place, it would not have prevented an accident such as that. This is a normal, three signal light that’s being installed so presumably, both drivers would have had a green light when that occurred. It’s a non factor in that particular, unfortunate case.”
No green directional arrow will be included for left turns when the light is installed, he said.
Krupski said the work was initially planned for fall because power would have to be shut off during the proceedings, and the goal was not to leave residents without air conditioning or refrigeration during the height of the summer.
The intersection, located at Depot Lane and Route 48, has long been a source of concern to residents.
After a neighbor reached out to department of public works in May, discussions began, Krupski said. The department of public works had actually begun the process of collecting traffic data a year ago to justify the new light, Krupski said; a formula must be followed.
“We are planning on putting a light there. It’s in the planning stages,” Krupski said.
In order to install the new light, higher, larger poles, to support the weight of the light, as well as higher wires, must be placed at the spot where currently, blinking red and yellow lights exist.
The new light was discussed last week at a committee meeting, Krupski said.
The legislator added that traffic lights, while a step in the right direction, do not solve all safety concerns, as motorists continue to ignore basic rules of the road.
Distracted driving, he said, with motorists, texting, talking on their phones, eating, smoking, drinking, applying makeup and even eating have made roads treacherous.
A rumble strip on Route 25 added last year has helped cars from drifting, Krupski said.
Neighbor Susan Tyler said the accident at the intersection was one neighbors have been dreading for years. “It was only a matter of time,” she said. “We’ve been saying for years that it would happen, but still hoped that it never would, and now it has.”
Flatley, at the accident site, agreed. “This is what we’ve always been afraid of.”
The limo driver, he said, tried to make a U turn and head west on Route 48 when he was struck by a pickup. “It was a dangerous move,” he said.
Limos making such turns take up two to three lanes and pose a danger on area roads, Flatley said, one reason why the town has been cautioning against potential tragedy on Route 48 for years.
Steve Romeo, of Peconic, was charged with driving while intoxicated after the crash but later, toxicology results indicated that his his blood alcohol level was .066, less than the legal limit. The charges have not been downgraded, however, due to the ongoing investigation, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said at a press conference last week.
The limo driver was not charged; his blood was tested and no presence of alcohol or drugs was found, Spota said.
Southold has been in the midst of a transformation from a sleepy town to a bustling tourist destination, with throngs of visitors crowding roads not built to handle such volume.
The influx of tourists heading to wineries and other attractions has brought new issues to the forefront, including the divide over short term rentals — with neighbors crying out against noise, traffic, and a revolving door of strangers in their communities — as well as a flood of race and bike events that led to the town board placing a ban on race and bike events on town roads from June 1 to November 1.
Supervisor Scott Russell agreed all factors converged to create what ultimately became a deadly accident.
While he said he cannot comment on the specific accident until the investigation is complete, he said, “These are important questions and it’s a discussion we need to have.”
However, Russell said, “I cannot speculate as to what the ‘solution’ is or, if there even is one. Generally, the increase in activity and the increase in traffic we see is the result of years of marketing this region. Those efforts worked and now we wrestle with how to accommodate this activity in a town that simply doesn’t have the infrastructure to support it. There are no easy solutions here.”
