A Push to Curtail Parking

One sure sign of summer in recent years is the chokepoint on Montauk Highway on Napeague in the vicinity of Cyril’s bar and restaurant, where patrons parking up and down the highway shoulder and looking to cross the highway, which has a 55-mile-per-hour speed limit, cause a slowdown — and concern.

Because Montauk Highway is a state road, East Hampton Town officials cannot institute a no-parking zone in the area, although that has often been discussed. But last week, with a unanimous vote, the town board resolved to ask the New York State Department of Transportation for approval to prohibit parking on the south side of Montauk Highway for a stretch in the Cyril’s area.

According to the board’s resolution, the town’s Police Department has “expressed its concern for the safety of the vehicular and pedestrian traffic in this area,” and the fire marshals office has also expressed concerns, including about the fact that all of the fire hydrants in the area are on the south side of the highway, and “a lineup of parked cars, even if not parked directly in front of a hydrant, could make it difficult for rapid and effective Fire Department access and response in the event of an emergency. . . .”

The resolution will be sent to the D.O.T.’s regional traffic office in Hauppauge, which town officials hope will issue a go-ahead.

Also last week, the town board authorized emergency repairs to the boat-launching ramp at Lazy Point in Amagansett. The ramp has sustained damage, the board said, but attempts to close it until repairs could be made under a normal schedule have been “difficult to enforce,” according to a board resolution. The D.J. Whelan Corporation will be hired, at a cost of $24,000, to do the work.

Repairs are also needed at the pier out at Navy Road in Montauk, and the town will accept bids on the job until tomorrow. They can be directed to the town’s Purchasing Department, which can provide specifications for the job.