Letters

An incident involving a Hampton Bays volunteer firefighter caused my blood to boil and provoked me to expose this danger to the public right now, before summer gets going, post-pandemic.

While parked midway between Ponquogue Avenue and Springville Road facing east, the entire distance was bumper-to-bumper traffic. This was on a cloudy, cool day, with a light drizzle, and was not a beach day. This was on Saturday, June 12, at 11 a.m.

I noticed a flashing blue light on a truck with a fire department decal. This may have been a first responder, paramedic or firefighter on an emergency call. However, traffic was at a complete standstill in both directions — so the responder was totally hemmed in.

Why is Main Street jammed up with large commercial trucks of every kind, you ask? Why are out-east second-home owners by the hundreds clogging Main Street, you ask?

If these eastbound vehicles are mostly heading beyond Hampton Bays and into Southampton and beyond, maybe it’s time right now for the Hampton Bays Fire Department to take some bold action, as it’s plain that the town supervisor and his highwaymen are useless. Seeing traffic control agents taking long walks and doing nothing else reminds me of town family patronage at work. I foresee grave and tragic results with the stumblebums at Town Hall.

Does a real common sense solution exist, you ask? I wonder if any Good Ground residents know that there is another Sunrise Highway exit just past the canal, which would relieve this traffic jamming up Main Street. It’s called Exit 66; however, it is hardly used to go east due to two ignorantly placed stop signs preventing eastbound drivers from using this route safely, due to the extreme danger posed by two dangerous left-hand turns.

Would you like to take a “Find Exit 66 Challenge”? I double-dog dare you to experience it for yourself.

Okay, get on the Sunrise Highway eastbound, across from Macy’s. You’ll get to ride over the Shinnecock Canal and see unique Shinnecock Nation tribal monuments, and follow the dumbest of highway exit ramps. This will be Exit 66, and the North Road.

You will finally be stopping on the east side of the canal. You’ll need some real bravery here to make this first left turn to get up to Montauk Highway. Now, when you are at Montauk Highway, you’ll have to make another left turn to go east toward Southampton. Good luck.

If you took this challenge, please write in to The Press and let us readers know by email what it was like taking this not often used and very neglected route to bypass Main Street in beautiful Hampton Bays.

Bob Dwyer

Moriches