Letters

I am a lifelong Long Islander transplanted by choice to East Quogue in 1994 due to the beauty of the area, the proximity to Riverhead for shopping and nearby magnificent beaches.

Since moving here, I have watched traffic grow exponentially worse every year. Simple 15-minute trips now taken at the wrong time of day often turn into 45-to-60-minute crawls. The patches recently discussed by our enlightened leaders — roads behind the old diner, connecting to Springville Road — will be useless. Staging areas for work vehicles are pie-in-the-sky dreams.

What is needed is the realization that we are no longer a sanguine, bucolic community outside the mainstream.

First, expand Route 27 east of Exit 63 into three lanes. Second, invoke eminent domain and turn County Road 39 into two express lanes east, two express lanes west, and service roads on both sides. This is the only solution that will expedite traffic.

Like it or not, traffic is going to continue to get worse, and the future will have to come.

George Hodge

East Quogue