Villages Want Right to Slow It Down
The East Hampton Village Board would like to reduce the default speed limit in the village from 30 to 25 miles per hour.
On Jan. 30, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and Senator Kenneth P. LaValle introduced concurrent bills in the State Assembly and Senate that would authorize East Hampton and Sag Harbor Villages to reduce speed limits in certain cases. A home rule request from the pertinent governing body is required before the State Legislature can act on certain bills, so at its meeting last Thursday, the village board voted to authorize Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. to execute the request.
“Traffic-calming measures are not feasible options in these areas,” according to Mr. Thiele and Mr. LaValle’s memorandum in support of the bill, “due to the landscaping configurations and desired community character.” The memorandum cites the villages’ popularity as tourist destinations, with their “numerous small shops, restaurants, and historic museums” that are “situated on narrow and congested roadways.” As such, “the best way to achieve the safest streets possible for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians in the villages of Sag Harbor and East Hampton is to lower the speed limit to 20 miles per hour.” The proposal was referred to the State Senate’s local government committee. To date, no action has been taken.
Secondary streets in East Hampton Village have differing speed limits: 30 miles per hour on some, 25 miles per hour on those used as truck routes.
The village board, in response to residents’ concerns, has already moved to reduce the speed limit to 25 miles per hour on streets including Dayton Lane, Mill Hill Lane, and Meadow Way, a move supported by East Hampton Village Police Chief Gerard Larsen.
Mayor Rickenbach said on Monday that the board would like to see a uniform 25-miles-per-hour speed limit, rather than 30 or, as Mr. Thiele and Mr. LaValle’s memorandum requests, 20. “Let’s see how that plays out,” he said of a 25-mile-per-hour limit. “Let’s take it one step at a time.” Many motorists, he said, are not adhering to the posted speed limit. Even at 25 miles per hour, he said, “the pressure to get from point A to point B,” or drivers that are “totally oblivious” to the speed limit, present a hazard to the public. “But at least we’ll have a mechanism for enforcement,” he said of a reduced speed limit.
Last year, the State Legislature approved a reduction of New York City’s default speed limit from 30 to 25 miles per hour as part of a push by the city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, to improve traffic safety. The city’s new speed limit went into effect in November.