A Very Narrow Escape

A pothole on Napeague came close last week to killing a motorcyclist, whose bike, after striking it, went down and skidded for about 100 yards, the length of a football field, across Montauk Highway.

East Hampton Town police said Carlos A. Buitrago of Springs, 27, was about a mile west of Napeague Meadow Road, headed west, when it happened, at about 10:40 a.m. on April 29. Man and motorcycle came to rest on the shoulder of the eastbound lane.

Mr. Buitrago lost consciousness temporarily, police said, and was unable to recall anything about the accident. Semiconscious and complaining of head pain, he was rushed by ambulance to Southampton Hospital. He was not listed as a patient there as of yesterday.

Potholes in that section of the highway, which have since been patched, were about two inches deep and often a foot or more wide.

The State Department of Transportation is repaving Route 27, in a project that began last month at the intersection of County Road 39 in Water Mill and is scheduled to conclude at Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton by Memorial Day. After Labor Day, the state will start work on the second part of the project, from Buell Lane in East Hampton to South Etna Avenue in Montauk. That section includes Napeague.