At Friday’s East Hampton Village Board work session, held at the Huntting Inn, Michael Tracey, the village police chief, spoke about the merits of turning Mill Road into a one-way street. Mill Road bisects the Village Green, separating its bioswale from Town Pond and the South End Cemetery. Traffic would continue to head from James Lane to Route 27, but drivers heading on Route 27 would no longer be able to turn onto Mill Road.
“It would be an immediate win,” Chief Tracey told the board. Accident data from the last six years at that location showed that “Twenty times in the last six years we had cars stopping and getting hit, or turning and getting hit, in the vicinity of Mill Road and Route 27.”
“By making it one way, we’d eliminate a fair amount of accidents at that location,” he said.
“That road is very narrow,” said Mayor Jerry Larsen. “You can’t pass two cars on that bridge.”
“Plus, there’s no turning lane,” said Christopher Minardi, the deputy mayor. “I’m concerned about stopping my car on 27 to make that turn. Too many people are on their phone and distracted. I completely agree about making it one way. I think we can get rid of it altogether.”
Carrie Doyle, a trustee, was initially circumspect. “If you’re coming out of Dunemere, how do you get to 27?” Cars are now blocked from shooting across 27 from Dunemere to drive north on Route 114, toward Sag Harbor.
“We’re not eliminating Mill Road,” said Mayor Larsen. “That road would still be one way to 27. The problem is the traffic traveling west on 27 that stops to make a left. They get rear-ended.”
Mr. Larsen saw an added benefit to encouraging people up Mill Road from Dunemere. “People would make a left on James and then a right on Mill Road and then a right on 27 to get to 114. Good thing about that is there’s a left turn lane there to get on 114.”
Tackling the issue at Mill Road doesn’t solve all the traffic problems there, however. “The other place we see a problem is people trying to turn left from 114 towards Main Street. They can’t make that turn, so a lot of people make a right, then a left down Mill Road and then the left on James. We’d eliminate that by making Mill Road one way.”
That could lead to a potential problem as traffic backs up on Buell Lane before turning east on 27.
If Mill Road went one way, three stop signs, all where Mill Road meets James Lane, would be removed. The stop sign at Mill Road and Route 27 would remain.
All board members thought the change would reduce the number of accidents. A public hearing will be announced at the next meeting on Nov. 18 and will be held at the Dec. 16 village board meeting.
