Sag Harbor Village and the Suffolk County Department of Transportation do not know who owns the four-way intersection of the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, Brick Kiln Road, Jermain Avenue, and Main Street. This became apparent during the March 11 meeting of the village board.
“This came about,” said Deputy Mayor Ed Haye, “because our traffic engineer asked two different county employees where their responsibility ends, and got two different answers.”
That evidently happened during discussions between the village’s parks and open spaces committee and the county about its plans to renovate a section of the turnpike, from Scuttlehole Road to the intersection at Mashashimuet Park. As part of the plan, the county also proposes to build sidewalks and bike lanes along the turnpike, and to make improvements to its drainage systems.
The project is still in development and is expected to go out to bid in 2026.
“I want to give them the benefit of the doubt right now,” Mr. Haye said. “They’ve got lawyers looking at it to figure this out. I don’t think they’re just stonewalling us.”
The county plans to add “raised islands” as well, which, while improving pedestrian safety, would cut off the entrance to Mashashimuet Park from Jermain Avenue. If nothing changes in the proposal, the only way for cars coming into the village from the turnpike to enter the park would be to turn right. That would also impede school buses from entering.
“Do they understand the situation where the village park cannot be accessed from the village as a major stumbling block?” asked Aidan Corish, a board member.
“Yes,” Mr. Haye responded, “and what they said to us, which was almost comical, was, ‘Well, people are entering and exiting illegally from there now.’ “
There was talk of creating a new vehicle entrance to the park, farther up the turnpike, which is not out of the realm of possibility. According to Mr. Haye, the county would help make the initial cuts, but would not help to build a new road within the park. That work would fall to the village.
The village’s traffic consultant also discovered that the county is using outdated traffic flow information, Mr. Haye said. “The information that they based their design of this whole project on was 2016 traffic information,” he said, drawing audible groans and laughs from both the audience and the board.
Mr. Haye then pitched a few other solutions, including making the islands smaller, to accommodate turns, or even adding a left-turn lane on Jermain Avenue.
“Let’s come up with a couple of ideas,” Mayor Tom Gardella responded. “Put it out to the public, and see how our residents feel about the changes before we suggest anything to the county.”
“First thing we want to do is find out who owns the intersection,” said Mr. Haye.
