An audible street crossing device in Southold that was put in place to help the visually impaired navigate the intersection of Youngs Avenue and Main Road still has some sounding off.
But according to Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell, the loud, beeping sound that has some crying foul is being addressed by the New York State Department of Transportation, with the volume set to be lowered even further soon.
At Tuesday’s town board work session Russell said the DOT had been out once to reduce the volume, and that another visit was planned to see if the audible device was too loud.
Eileen Peters, spokesperson for the DOT, said Tuesday that the volume had been lowered once and another visit to check the device and possibly lower it again was planned. “The volume has been reduced. We are monitoring the situation,” she said.
According to Marilyn Tucci, advocacy and outreach coordinator with the Suffolk Independent Living Organization (SILO), the device was installed at the request of a visually impaired resident who had been hit by a car; the individual’s guide dog was no longer able to work, she said.
Both Russell and Peters confirmed that the device had been installed at the request of a resident and on Tuesday, the supervisor said if the request had been made by a blind resident, it was necessary to have it installed.
Others, however, say that even though the device was allegedly lowered, it’s just too loud and is shattering the serenity of quiet Southold nights.
“I passed it three times today,” Southold resident Robert Maddalena, who lives on Youngs Avenue, said on Tuesday. “I said, ‘Was that turned down?’ I was just out in front of my house in my driveway. I live 200 feet down the road by the creek, and I can still hear it.”
Maddalena said he is worried about how the loud, beeping sound will impact his quality of life in the summer, when the windows are open in his front bedroom.
The quiet, he said, “is one of the reasons why I love it here.”
Councilwoman Jill Doherty agreed that downtown Southold “gets quiet in the evening.” She suggested that possibly, a timer be installed so that the sound was louder during the daylight hours.
While Maddalena applauded the lowering of the volume once, calling it a “step in the right direction,” he added, “They need another step. It’s definitely got to go down more. You should only here this when you are 20, 30 feet away. Not 100 or 200 feet.”
The issue first came up at a town board meeting in February, when Maddalena and Ron Rothman both stood up to express their concerns, and those of neighbors who had signed a petition, about the noise level and how it was shattering the serenity of the hamlet.
