UPDATE: Westhampton Beach Village Board Postpones Hampton Jitney Decision

The Westhampton Beach Village Board opted not to approve a pair of stops for the Hampton Jitney at the work session on Wednesday night after hearing concerns from village residents.

Questions included available parking for people making day and overnight trips to Manhattan, adding traffic to a busy village street next to a playground, and cars having to go around the buses while they stop to load and unload passengers. Some neighbors also cited noise complaints, adding that the bus would be entering the neighborhood several times a day.

“I work on Main Street and a lot of times that parking lot is blocked because there are cars making the turn and it is dangerous,” Allison Galasso, a real estate agent, said. “To bring in more cars, not only cars from people parking to get on the bus, but say on a Thursday when there is the concert on the green and you have 30 people coming off the bus with people rushing to pick them up, where are all of those cars going?”

After a roughly half-hour discussion on Wednesday night, board members voted to table the discussion until they could evaluate the proposed pick-up and drop-off points, saying they would consider other village locations.

“I have to admit, I did not think about all of these ramifications, personally,” Trustee Ralph Urban said. “I want us to reconsider this as a board.”

Those who catch the Hampton Jitney in Westhampton Beach could soon find it easier to get to and from the city this summer as village officials intend to approve a pair of new stops for the bus line.

According to Westhampton Beach Mayor Maria Moore, the Village Board intended to approve the new stops, both of which will be located on Mill Road, at last night’s work session.

The stop for eastbound travelers will be near the Chase Bank and is already utilized by those taking the Suffolk County bus. The westbound stop will be situated directly across the street, near the Village Green.

Ms. Moore said that the plan for the bus stop additions has been in the works for the past year. “It will provide convenience for the residents who want to take the Jitney into the city,” she said this week. “The hope is that it will also support the Main Street merchants.”

If the resolution is approved Wednesday night as expected, the current Hampton Jitney stop on Montauk Highway, located at the Casa Basso restaurant in Westhampton, is expected to eventually close, according to the mayor.

Hampton Jitney Vice President Andrew Lynch was not immediately available for comment.

According to Ms. Moore, the westbound Hampton Jitney buses will turn off Montauk Highway and onto Meetinghouse Lane on Quiogue, which eventually turns into Main Street in Westhampton Beach. The drivers will then turn right onto Mill Road, thereby avoiding the downtown business district. The buses would then proceed to Montauk Highway. The same route will be reversed for eastbound buses.