Bypass To Nowhere

Southampton Town officials recently breathed new life into a decades-old plan to extend Good Ground Road in Hampton Bays westward, with a turn north to meet the Montauk Highway-State Route 24 intersection at the traffic signal, in what is being billed as a bypass to the congested Montauk Highway business corridor in the hamlet.

The convoluted, and no doubt expensive, plan — which includes several “land swaps,” including alienating a preserved property purchased under the Community Preservation Fund program, and demolishing an iconic diner — raises numerous questions, the primary ones being who would benefit from the proposal and whether the cost justifies those benefits.

Supervisor Jay Schneiderman sees the plan as a “relief valve” for commuters trying to get to the hamlet’s residential district (and, perhaps, the beaches beyond?) without snaking through the business district. But that seems difficult to justify, since the “bypass” would only extend for one block of Montauk Highway. Moreover, it would add even more traffic to the gridlock that already exists on residential streets south of the highway during rush hour, as the trade parade seeks alternate routes. Adding more traffic to the overburdened residential neighborhoods — some homeowners already say they’re unable to get out of their driveways some mornings — hardly seems an equitable solution to the problem of commercial traffic flowing through the hamlet. If the plan moves forward, a measure to restrict the bypass to non-commercial vehicles is essential, but that won’t solve the problem of more traffic in general. Meanwhile, much of that traffic will return to Montauk Highway at some point, creating even more delays at intersections to the east.

Even if it makes sense to extend Route 24 to Good Ground Road, why would the town embark on an elaborate plan to shuffle ownership of the diner property, a municipally owned property and a CPF-purchased property — which will require an act of the State Legislature and a townwide vote to accomplish — to make it work? Removing parkland and protections from CPF properties are both extreme measures to deploy for such dubious results.

While there may be some congestion at heavy traffic times at the Route 24-Montauk Highway intersection, the root of the traffic problem lies farther east — at the Canoe Place Road intersection. It would make more sense for the town to take the resources set aside for the Good Ground Road bypass and instead seek to improve that bottleneck, which might more effectively ease the gridlock in the hamlet.

Officials plan to present their plans to several community groups in the next few weeks. It will be interesting to see how they justify the need for a “bypass to nowhere,” and whether they have considered any alternate plans. They are quick to point out that the current plan dates back decades. Perhaps there was a reason it was never implemented back then.

Addressing traffic concerns is a laudable and necessary goal. But maybe it’s time for a new start and a fresher plan.