At the March 27th Town Board Meeting, members of the Town’s Traffic Mitigation and Safety Taskforce discussed the Final Report in draft form. Members present were Charlie McArdle (Highway Superintendent and Co-Chair), Tom Neely (Co-Chair), Ryan Murphy (Public Safety Director), and Police Chief James Kiernan.
The Final Report is a culmination of the topics discussed at the meetings, along with a global picture of the history, summary of the Taskforce’s work and objectives, and key recommendations. At the meeting, it was discussed that the Taskforce’s approach was “bottom-up” to emphasize the public participation component that was carried through each of the six meetings by the Taskforce, beginning in April 2024. The Report attempts to formulate a spate of viable solutions that could mitigate some of the traffic-related issues through short-term and long-term recommended (interdepartmental) actions.
The Report courses over a variety of data that shows increased population and development patterns that have exacerbated the crisis seasonally. Additionally, it makes the recommendation to continue to expand and evaluate the Blinking Signal program and consider and enact a few long-term public improvement projects that deal with roundabouts and intersection improvements, such as in the hamlets of Hampton Bays, Noyac, and Watermill. The Report’s “Roads of Note” section represents the product of collecting public input and demonstrates the plotting of secondary road concerns dealing with speed and safety down side streets. Augmenting that is a depiction of where the Highway Department through the work of the Taskforce deployed speed monitors to collect speed data and coordinate with Police Department enforcement efforts.
In that, the Taskforce’s central recommendation will be to encourage the Town Board to consider a Townwide Comprehensive Traffic and Transportation Masterplan. Much of the work completed by the Taskforce has already begun strategies and analysis that would be foundational, bolstering such an exercise. Especially as there are a number of planning, public transportation, and housing recommendations included in the Final Report.
The Taskforce will make some revisions as per comments made at the meeting to be brought before the Board at an upcoming Town Board meeting to be accepted legislatively. The meeting is anticipated to be held in April, date TBD.
Tom Neely, Co-chair of the Taskforce stated, “I was proud to co-chair this Taskforce. We examined a lot of information provided by the public and also relevant projects not effectuated, historical trends, and future implications. This Report really helps establish ways we can move forward toward a comprehensive and coordinated interagency effort in solving the traffic issues in Southampton Town.”
“This Taskforce helped us in building important relationships with County DPW and our partners in the village. A lot of what we do has to be coordinated, and our efforts throughout this process helped to foster and strengthen them. While the Town as a whole has more work to do, this was a positive step in the right direction in helping address the traffic issues in Southampton and how we can best solve them,” commented Superintendent Charlie McArdle, who also served as the Taskforce’s Co-chair.
Councilmember Iasilli stated “I am pleased at the coming together of the Taskforce’s Final Report. We have been able to enact a real grassroots approach to identifying some of what is happening with respect to the Town’s traffic issues. The recommendations laid out in the Report are both short-term and long-term. If this Board as well as future Boards continues to use it as a guiding tool, I believe the Town’s residence will begin to see some relief that is hoped for.” He added, “I am grateful to the Town Highway Department, Public Safety, and Police Department, as well as County DPW, for being so helpful.”
Ryan Murphy, The Town’s Director of Public Safety mentioned, “Traffic mitigation is a huge issue for the Town of Southampton and the East End, in general. With limited roadways in and out of the area, everyone who has ever traversed the Town knows that movement can be challenging. I am happy to be part of this whole-community approach to analyzing the issues and attempting to develop solutions.”
Town Police Chief James Kiernan stated “It has long been very frustrating in trying to solve the traffic issues affecting our community. This Taskforce has brought together many people that have unique perspectives and competence in particular fields that will bring opportunity to move the Town toward real solutions.”
“I would like to extend my thanks to Councilmember Michael Iasilli for his leadership in addressing the Town's long-standing traffic challenges by creating the Traffic Mitigation and Safety Task Force. The collective expertise and problem-solving efforts of the dedicated members culminated in a comprehensive traffic report that was presented to our Town Board yesterday. This is an important step in what promises to be a continual effort to improve traffic safety in our community, and I look forward to continuing this collaborative endeavor,” added Supervisor Maria Moore
All meetings can be found on the Town’s webpage. The Final Report in its entirety will be available on the Town’s Traffic Mitigation and Safety Taskforce page featured here.
Featured: Members of the Taskforce present and discuss Final Report with Town Board members
