Pull The PlugThey’ve had their shining moment since Memorial Day. Now it’s time to shut them down.Those statuesque yellow signs lining Montauk’s Main Street — the 10-foot ones depicting a downward-pointing arrow, and a stick figure perambulating purposefully — were intended to serve a purpose other than irritating or offending anyone who encounters them. The signs were meant to warn drivers when pedestrians were attempting to cross the street, and therefore even were equipped with camera-activated lights designed to turn on whenever a person entered the crosswalk.
As Montauk residents and East Hampton Town officials will tell you, however, that is not the way the story turned out. From the very start of summer, the lights have been flickering with no rhyme or reason — going on when there is no pedestrian to be seen, or continuing to blink long after a person has exited the crosswalk. Not only do drivers get confused, but people in general find both the blinking lights and the towering height of the signs to be garishly unattractive.
The town has asked the company that installed the signs to fix the technical problems and lower the signs. For safety’s sake, it might be wise to give the signs a second chance — if and after that has been accomplished.
In the meantime, though, can we just turn the darned things off?
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Staff Writer on Sep 13, 2019