Focus on Route 114

While Montauk Highway, the main route through East Hampton Town, which we all love to hate, gets most of our attention, another state road, Route 114, is increasingly worthy of serious review.

To list just a few relatively recent incidents: A Sag Harbor mother died after her car left the pavement, a father visiting from away was killed in a head-on collision, two students and one’s mom were injured when their vehicle was hit from behind, and just this week, a drunken driver was sentenced to jail for a crash in which a 6-year-old was critically injured.

Then there are numerous less serious accidents, often at the Stephen Hand’s Path intersection, which are costly, result in hospitalizations, and take up a lot of police time.

Following the Oct. 3 accident in which the two Ross School students were hurt, one seriously, some of the private school’s parents have begun asking for solutions. One idea is to petition the state for a traffic light at Goodfriend Drive, the entrance to the campus, which is sure to be a hot-button issue for some drivers who equate traffic lights with creeping suburbanization. Thing is, the traffic volume and speed appear to be too much for the road’s current configuration.

Whether a traffic light, or a school zone perhaps, would be a suitable solution for that particular area of Route 114 is difficult to say and would need study. What is clear is that too many bad accidents are happening. The state’s Department of Transportation must work with local officials to see that something is done.