It feels a bit like someone up in Albany is punking us with the “Groundhog Day” roadwork situation at the intersection of Route 114 and Stephen Hand’s Path.
As recently as 2023, the roadway at that nasty intersection was smooth and newly repaved following a successful major construction effort to address flooding, but in 2024, it was torn up again as part of the new project, the purpose of which is to add turning lanes to this chaotic crossroads. The turning lanes project was originally supposed to be completed in February, but, obviously, it wasn’t, and now the Fourth of July weekend is upon us.
Expect delays.
While the project drags on, the intersection is more dangerous than ever. There are no shoulders right now in the construction zone, and the surface of Route 114 is a rutted moonscape. Making matters worse, traffic-wise, PSEG has been digging and halting traffic at the other end of Route 114, too.
A dozen traffic lights dangle from wires overhead, orange cones stretch for nearly a quarter of a mile, but the workers — who arrived on site back in 2024 — seem to have vanished and from a driver’s perspective, there’s nothing yet to show for their many months of digging and disruption.
Route 114, also known as the East Hampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike (and not to be confused with the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike), is a state-owned road, which is why improvement projects like this one are officially outside of local control. The intersection with Stephen Hand’s Path has long been one of the most dangerous in East Hampton Town and it has urgently needed safety improvement for decades. Three years ago, the town issued a report that documented 46 car accidents there between 2014 and 2022, according to the East Hampton Town Police Department.
The work being done now is to add left-hand turn lanes at each of the approaches; to add traffic lights to control those turns, and also, somewhat mysteriously, according to state officials, to add pedestrian accommodations compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act — mysterious because there are no sidewalks for miles. (The A.D.A.-compliant pedestrian project wasn’t mentioned in the town’s 2022 report.)
“Land surveying is being conducted in advance of the resumption of major construction,” a representative of the New York State Department of Transportation told The Star this week, when a reporter asked for an explanation, “and all work is expected to be completed this summer.” Surveying? Hmm. We — and the donkey who lives at the farm on the northeast corner of the intersection — will be watching.
Meanwhile, we hope that our representatives in East Hampton Town Hall and in Albany have the state D.O.T. on speed-dial. Project oversight may be out of the town’s hands, but advocating to resolve this once and for all, for the safety of all, would be much appreciated by the weary travelers of Route 114.