Southampton Town, USGA Officials Formulate Traffic Plan For U.S. Open Without 'Cops And Cones'

Southampton Town is aiming for a hole in one when it comes to controlling traffic during the U.S. Open Golf Championship next month.

Town officials have been hashing out strategies with representatives of the United States Golf Association to limit traffic when massive crowds visit the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Tuckahoe. The championship is expected to attract more than 30,000 participants and spectators per day and will run from June 11 to 17.

While the organizers have been using the 2004 U.S. Open as a baseline—that was the last time the Open was held in Shinnecock Hills—they will not be employing its “cops and cones” strategy, which added an eastbound lane to County Road 39. At the time, there was only one eastbound lane on the road.

“We learned a lot in 2004 about traffic control,” said Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman at a Town Board work session last Thursday, May 3. “Back then, we had one less lane on County Road 39. So they helped create the extra lane with cones, which showed that having that extra lane made a big difference. Now, we have that lane.”

Mr. Schneiderman said he considered bringing back the “cops and cones” technique to create a bus-only lane—shuttle buses will be picking people up from special U.S. Open parking lots at Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton and at the Hampton Classic Horse Show site in Bridgehampton—but decided to go with other options instead.

For instance, officials are considering creating a blinking light on County Road 39 at the Tuckahoe Road intersection, since no turns would be permitted on that road the week of the Open. There will be police officers from multiple police agencies on the South Fork assisting with traffic as well.

“I think that light on blink would have a significant effect on reducing traffic backlog,” Mr. Schneiderman said.

But the best way to limit traffic, according to organizers, is convincing spectators to take the Long Island Rail Road to Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. The LIRR announced this week that multiple extra trains will be provided to get to and from the U.S. Open, with a special stop created at the Stony Brook Southampton campus across County Road 39 from the golf course, with a pedestrian bridge employed again this year.

“I expect a large amount of spectators to come by train,” Mr. Schneiderman said. “And that’s how I would advise people to come.”

“We are pushing people to use LIRR as much as possible,” Charlie Howe, a USGA representative, added.

Last week, Mr. Howe and Hank Thompson, another USGA representative, met with Walter Dunn of Dunn Engineering in Westhampton Beach, Southampton Town Police Captain Lawrence Schurek, Town Police Lieutenant Michael Zarro, Town Police Chief Fire Marshal Cheryl Kraft and Tom Neely, the town’s director of public transportation and public safety, at the session to discuss the prep.

The plans—including specific bus routes from Westhampton and Bridgehampton—were meticulously laid out for the Town Board to show that traffic would be handled in an appropriate manner.

Other plans, including securing a mass gathering permit from Suffolk County, appear to be moving forward as well.

“Things are pretty much on schedule,” Ms. Kraft said.