Watch Your Speed

As the only practical corridor for commercial and commuter traffic through East Hampton Town, Montauk Highway has a constant stream of vehicles driven by people eager to get from place to place.

Unfortunately, the highway is also Main Street, where accidents involving motorists and pedestrians occur with relative frequency. The noise and pollution from racing trucks degrades the quality of life under the street's arching elms. And speeding makes it dangerous to enter and exit driveways or turn onto the street from the side lanes.

From our windows at 153 Main Street we have a good view of the problem, particularly speeding by heavy commercial vehicles, like a LIPA truck clocked this week westbound at 56 miles per hour.

To combat excessive speed, Village Police Department officers armed with radar guns have been making dozens of traffic stops since early this year. The result is a notable decrease in the velocity at which traffic rumbles along. Word must be getting out that Main Street is no longer safe for speeders.

We hope that as summer approaches and the police get busier, the department will continue to find the time and personnel to continue its traps. To many who live, work, or even travel here, the sight of patrol cars on the alert has been a welcome sight.