Letters

The proposal for affordable housing on County Road 39 is outrageous and dangerous.

Board members and town officials were elected to protect and preserve the integrity of Southampton Town. Are you trying to emulate the errors of Riverhead Town and the over-building, traffic, accidents and deaths on County Road 58, Old Country Road?

County Road 39 is not the place for this housing. The widening of the roadway in 2012 just before the 2013 U.S. Women’s Open at Sebonack Golf Club created a “speedway of death.” Traffic since that time has increased at least 300 percent, with the trade parade from the west.

In 2024, Suffolk County plans on putting in sidewalks where lacking from studies they have done. This is a waste of taxpayers’ money, not needed — very few people walk along County Road 39, and if they did, it is taking their lives in their own hands because of the traffic and speeds.

In 2025, Suffolk County plans on repaving County Road 39, one year before the U.S. Open championship at Shinnecock Golf Club. So with all that, speeds will now increase, with no shoulders on the roadway and no way to have police patrols to stop speeding, with nowhere to pull them over.

Adding housing on the site of the church property is outlandish. With 60 units proposed, what studies were done for parking, the number of people per unit and the landscaping requirements from Southampton Town reducing land use?

If this is a workforce housing, what demographics are going to live there? How many people will live in each unit? How many parking spots are proposed? How many cars will each unit have? How will the increased traffic in and out of this site impact County Road?

The town and Suffolk County cannot figure out how to deal with the traffic on County Road 39, and now you want to add housing on this death trap of a road? Getting onto and off County Road 39 is extremely dangerous. Drivers are speeding — in a rush, road raging or just tailgating.

You just did a study about no left turns; what came of that? Do you think all the residents leaving the proposed site will exit right to go east? No way. There will be accidents from people crossing to go west.

Obviously, the studies are flawed, but monies donated to Southampton or projects paid for by the developers gain favor from the town. This is wrong.

The Town of Southampton and Suffolk County should fix County Road 39 and not allow any more building until they figure out how to resolve the issues they created from the widening of County Road 39 in 2012.

Timothy E. McCarthy

Southampton