The Wainscott Citizens Advisory Committee will mostly support a proposal to add new stop signs at intersections on Town Line Road, the street that divides the hamlet from neighboring Sagaponack Village.
Traffic safety on Town Line and nearby lanes has been at the forefront of discussion in both Wainscott and Sagaponack since an 11-year-old boy was killed late in the afternoon of June 30 while riding his bicycle. While a stop sign would not have played a role in the tragedy, residents say something must be done to slow drivers, improve sight lines, and provide better access for emergency vehicles.
According to the proposal under review, stop signs would be placed on the north side of Town Line Road at four intersections: Daniel’s Lane, Hedges Lane, Parsonage Lane, and Wainscott Main Street. On Saturday, advisory committee members expressed varying degrees of agreement with that proposal.
“I think they’re great — all four locations are awesome — and I believe we would all benefit,” said Jose Arandia, a member.
Susan Macy, a resident of Wainscott who is not on the committee, urged the group to support the stop signs. “It takes a village. We think it’s a good thing,” she said.
Some people wondered whether all four intersections needed a stop sign — Hedges Lane in particular was a question — while others suggested an additional sign could be helpful at the Wainscott Hollow Road intersection.
“We certainly will consider their comments,” said Councilwoman Sylvia Overby, the town board’s liaison to the committee, by phone on Tuesday.
East Hampton Town code requires a public hearing any time a new stop sign is installed. At its work session Tuesday, the town board set the stop-sign hearing for Thursday, Sept. 1, at 2 p.m., both in person and virtually, via LTV’s public-access call-in system.
The stop signs are not the only traffic-calming measure in the works on Town Line Road. As reported in last week’s Star, East Hampton Town is also considering banning parallel parking within 60 feet of the beach at the road’s end, which will get its own hearing that same day. Concurrently, Sagaponack Village might build a sidewalk on its side of Town Line, as well as a turnaround for emergency vehicles at the road end, using a 17-foot right of way the village owns there.
