A traffic roundabout at the intersection of Stephen Hand’s Path, Long Lane, and Two Holes of Water Road in East Hampton, which the town board began discussing a few years ago, could see “substantial completion” by summer, a consultant told the board on Tuesday.
Before a presentation by Ray DiBiase of L.K. McLean Associates about the proposed roundabout, the board heard from four residents who spoke of the dangerous conditions at the intersection and urged action on installing a roundabout. Motorists often speed on Stephen Hand’s Path, including when making the wide right turn onto Long Lane. The intersection also has poor sight lines, and it experiences flooding and sediment buildup from stormwater runoff.
A four-way intersection makes possible collisions of vehicles traveling at right angles to one another, Mr. DiBiase said, whereas collisions at roundabouts tend to be low-speed incidents while merging “where someone does not yield the right of way on the entering roadway. So they’re normally fender-benders” and not high-speed, right-angle accidents that can cause severe injury or worse.
The geometry of a roundabout, Mr. DiBiase said, “will require motorists to slow down, and that’s primarily the motorists on Stephen Hand’s Path that are exceeding the speed limit regularly,” because “you physically cannot go through this roundabout at a high speed.” A roundabout’s entrances are typically designed for maximum speeds of 15 to 20 miles per hour, “which will facilitate people making left turns out of Long Lane, because they’ll make a right turn and circle around the roundabout.”
The roundabout’s center island will be landscaped with deer-resistant plant species, Mr. DiBiase said. He suggested that it also be raised, so that motorists cannot see over and around it, further discouraging speeding.
The project also calls for a bioswale and grates to capture sediment, and a berm for runoff protection during heavy rains, at the intersection’s southeast quadrant. Drainage is to connect to recently installed drainage swales farther down Stephen Hand’s Path toward Route 114.
Stephen Lynch, the highway superintendent, called in to the meeting to voice his support for the roundabout. “I think this is going to be great if we do this,” he said, “because the safety is so bad there, especially with [East Hampton High School], and even in the summertime.” There have been many serious accidents there, he said. “This should eliminate them.”
Construction will take five to six months, Mr. DiBiase said.
Councilwoman Sylvia Overby, questioning any plan for lighting, said she would prefer that the intersection not lose its existing character. “I think safety is a major, major issue, and I’m really happy and have always been supportive of a roundabout here,” she said, “but I just want to make sure that we make it look as rural as possible.”
Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc agreed, but added that “there is nothing very rural right now about seeing the amount of traffic there and the speeds people are going. It really doesn’t speak to a rural nature now, the way the traffic is. . . . Whatever we need to do to move this project full speed ahead, I’m in favor of it.”
