About 60 people turned out this morning to hear the recommendations of civic association round table group on traffic calming measures for the Mattituck hamlet.
The group recommends creating “functional crosswalks” at key intersections to facilitate traffic calming and maximize pedestrian safety. It recommends better defining the lanes of travel at the Main Road-Love Lane-Old Sound Avenue intersection with the installation of a landscaped berm, curbing and raised pedestrian crosswalks on Love Lane and Old Sound Avenue. It also recommends installing crosswalks with pedestrian-activated flashing lights or other safety features on Main Road at Wickham, Old Sound and New Suffolk avenues. Finally, it recommends creating a single lane of diagonal parking on the south side of Old Sound Avenue.
Supervisor Scott Russell and Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo said they would pursue having a traffic study for implementing the recommendations of the working group jointly funded by the state, town and county. The study would be completed by a private engineering consultant hired by the town, Russell said. The consultant would develop a specific implementation plan for the recommendations and that would be submitted to the state Department of Transportation.
“The idea was to develop recommendations that are do-able, affordable and could be implemented immediately,” Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association president Mary Eisenstein said. Eisenstein and civic member John Carter presented the round table group’s recommendations and facilitated discussion of the issues during a two-hour community meeting this morning at Mattituck Presbyterian Church.
Residents discussed the merits and detriments of traffic signals, with some suggesting that signals have become necessary on Main Road at the Wickham Avenue and New Suffolk Avenue intersections. Others said the state DOT should analyze the speed limits on Main Road, which fluctuate in many places. It was suggested that having consistent speed limit signage — and making the limit 25 mph through the entire hamlet would also calm traffic.
The civic association will gather residents’ comments and present them together with the round table’s recommendations, to the Southold Town Board, Eisenstein said.
