There was audible muttering at Monday night’s meeting of the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee when East Hampton Town Councilman David Lys presented a draft proposal to fix drainage and traffic issues at the complicated five-way intersection of Second House Road, Industrial Road, North Shore Road, and Midland Road, all near Fort Pond.
The project, to be undertaken by PSEG-LI, will raise the roadway and build a new drainage system to mitigate the longtime problem of standing water in that area. PSEG has the funding and has told the town it could be lost if work doesn’t begin soon.
Plans have been in the works for some time. A roundabout was proposed at one point but has since been scrapped. There is an island in the middle of the intersection, which was one hurdle; a telephone pole was another, with not only extensive electrical work underneath but also high groundwater.
Instead, two new stop signs are planned, one to the west on Industrial Road and the other south on Second House — which would bring the number of stop signs at the challenging intersection to eight.
Mention of the new stop signs had members of the committee murmuring. “It seems silly to me to add all those stop signs,” said Diane Hausman.
Mr. Lys reminded the group that town code already calls for six stop signs in that area. Two more were added after the roundabout was ditched.
“The groundwater is so high there, and there is so much electrical work underneath, we are very limited in what we can do,” said the councilman. “The main thing we want to do is get the water off the road, using outfalls that have been permitted by the D.E.C.”
“I think the way you presented it tonight seems as though it’s more of a traffic solution than a drainage solution,” said Louis Cortese, who often attends the advisory committee meetings. “Will this be a solution to the drainage problem?”
“You’re not going to solve the problem of drainage in this location,” Mr. Lys answered. “You’re going to try to make it better.” There can be mitigation, he indicated, but not resolution.
The new plan would raise the intersection, perhaps by as much as six inches, add curbs around the center island, and create catch basins and drain pipes leading to a Fort Pond outfall.
Several committee members, however, objected to the drainage work and the traffic mitigation being combined, and instead suggested tackling the drainage problem without adding the stop signs.
“I’d rather put it all in there and scale it back, rather than say, man, I wish we had this instead,” Mr. Lys responded. The town’s goal, he said, is “to look at all options that can be designed to help with traffic flow, the environment, and public safety.”
The town and PSEG will speak soon with owners of businesses in and around the intersection and with Montauk School District officials, and Mr. Lys will bring an update to the advisory committee next month.
