Shinnecock Hills Residents Seek Safer Route Out Of Neighborhood

Homeowners in the Greenfield Road neighborhood of Shinnecock Hills are asking the Southampton Town Board for a safe way to exit their neighborhood onto an often dangerously busy County Road 39.

Currently, the only way in and out of the neighborhood—which consists of Shinnecock Hills Road, Hill Top Road and Arbutus Road—is by way of Greenfield Road, south of County Road 39 and across from the Atlantic Hotel.

When traffic along County Road 39 stacks up, getting out can be a little tricky.

“The left to head west is extremely dangerous if you are exiting, so they end up making a right, because they can’t make the left,” Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said at a work session last Thursday, July 26. “The residents of the community are sort of fearing for their lives as the volume and traffic on County Road 39 has increased.”

Tom Neely, the town’s director of public transportation and safety, presented a possible plan to get residents out of the community through the creation of a new one-way road—either on Hillside Road or Shinnecock Hills Road Extension—that would connect to Hill Station Road. From there, residents would be able to go south to get to Montauk Highway or go north to get onto Longview Road.

But the problem is that both Hillside and Shinnecock Hills Road have portions that are privately owned—and obtaining them could be pricey to the town.

Mr. Schneiderman said there were a few options to manage the roads. One option would be to look at the issue as a public safety concern and have the town pay for it. Another option would be for the town to obtain the road, clear trees and make a dirt road, and then donate it to a homeowners association. No association exists currently, so one would have to be formed.

If the new road were donated to the HOA then fees collected from dues could pay for improvements and upkeep of the road, making it private.

The residents are also trying to get the road to be an exit point only, meaning cars could not come into the neighborhood from the new road, and instead would have to enter only from County Road 39.

“The reason for the one-way concept is they are concerned this, like many other neighborhoods, would become a bypass of people avoiding County Road 39 who go through the neighborhood, and it will radically change the neighborhood,” Mr. Schneiderman said.

Along with concerns that the community could become a bypass, other residents are concerned that opening up a road like Hillside Road, which is currently a dead end, and making it a through street would change aspects of the neighborhood as well.

One option, Mr. Schneiderman told the other board members, is to not do anything at all. He said the reason he brought the issue up for discussion at the board’s work session was because he saw it as a public safety concern, but, ultimately, it would be the board’s decision.

The decision would also need to be reviewed by Highway Superintendent Alex Gregor, who was invited to the discussion but did not attend. Calls to Mr. Gregor were not immediately returned, but according to Assistant Town Attorney Kathleen Murray, he is reviewing the proposals.

Still, until a decision is made, residents will continue to deal with the traffic concerns.

“I think these people just want a safe way to exit their neighborhood,” Mr. Schneiderman said.