A traffic-calming plan devised by the Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association in a series of community meetings over the past eight months was presented by representatives of the civic to the Southold Town Board yesterday.
John Carter walked the board through the civic’s recommendations, as well as two possible alternative plans. The alternatives came out of a well-attended March 19 community meeting where residents suggested additional measures to improve safety in the hamlet, particularly at the three-road intersection of Main Road, Love Lane and Old Sound Avenue.
The civic recommended the following measures, collectively dubbed Alternative A, which it said could be accomplished affordably and immediately:
- create “functional crosswalks” at key intersections to facilitate traffic calming and maximize pedestrian safety
- install a landscaped berm at the intersection to better define lanes of travel
- install curbing and raised pedestrian crosswalks on Love Lane and Old Sound Avenue.
- install crosswalks with pedestrian-activated flashing lights or other safety features on Main Road at Wickham, Old Sound and New Suffolk avenues.
- create a single lane of diagonal parking on the south side of Old Sound Avenue.
Alternative B differs from the civic’s recommendations with the suggestion of traffic lights instead of stop signs throughout the intersection and continuing to allow a left turn from Love Lane onto Main Road going east.
Alterative C is “B fortified,” Carter said. In addition to the traffic lights in place of stop signs at the Main Road-Love Lane-Old Sound Avenue intersection, it also calls for traffic lights at the Main Road intersections with New Suffolk Avenue and Wickham Avenue. Alternative C also suggests straightening the curve in Main Road at the intersection, “which would probably require condemnation or acquisition,” Carter said.
At the March 19 community meeting, Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell and Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo said the town and state would get together to fund a traffic study for the purpose of developing the civic’s recommendations into concrete plans.
Board members reacted favorably to the whole concept at yesterday morning’s work session.
Councilman William Ruland spoke to the civic’s articulated goal of developing recommended actions that could be undertaken “immediately.”
“A lot of what’s here is longer-term rather than short-term because you’re talking about a study,” Ruland said. “But what do we do in the meantime? What about this coming weekend and the weekend after, and after that, each one getting progressively busier?”
Ruland said the town needs to see to it that there’s “adherence to the traffic laws that exist now, that people seem to just cast to the wind.”
He said Police Chief Martin Flatley should be part of the discussion, since more law enforcement is needed.
Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association president Mary Eisenstein said the chief was part of the roundtable that developed the recommendations adopted by the civic group. The roundtable met three times to devise the plans, in November, December and January.
At this point, Ruland said, the chief’s involvement should go through official channels.
“We can put the speed machine in place. We can put the computer on the pole to collect data. These are things we can do right away,” Ruland said. “We all agree it’s dangerous, and if you’re on foot, it’s every man for himself.”
The next steps for implementing the recommendations is to reach out to the State Department of Transportation, discuss funding with representatives of the elected officials offices and commission a traffic study.
Councilwoman Jill Doherty asked if anything could be done to get the GPS programmers to stop suggesting Love Lane as a through-route to County Road 48 from Main Road. Ruland said the town has tried but it’s been fruitless. The chief is implementing measures on Love Lane to improve traffic and pedestrian safety on that road, including enforcement of parking regulations and weight limits.
“If we’re going to fight computers as far as GPS goes, that’s going to be a longer fight,” Ruland said.
Town engineer Jamie Richter questioned why a roundabout was not proposed, because he thinks a traffic engineer might end up recommending that he said.
“I think it was because of the time involved and the way the other roundabout proposals have languished,” the supervisor answered.
“This was a great effort,” Justice Louisa Evans told Eisenstein and Carter, and all board members agreed.
