County Road 39 Sidewalk Project Delayed to 2027; 'Absurd' North Sea Road Sidewalk Plan Decried by CAC

Rebuked by locals as “tone deaf” and “a sidewalk to nowhere,” the two-year, $9.6 million Suffolk County Department of Public Works plan to add sidewalks on both sides of County Road 39 has been put off until 2027, according to documents provided by Southampton Town officials.

The project was originally slated to start this fall, with sidewalks and road improvements slated for a 1.9-mile stretch of the busy highway, from Tuckahoe Road to Boathouse Road.

Following a March 6 Zoom teleconference, during which county staff revealed the plan, Town Engineer Thomas Houghton sent an array of questions to the county’s director of highway engineering, Jeffrey Dawson.

Buried among technical responses about lane closures and cones is one sentence that might bring relief to weary commuters girding their loins for added congestion on the town’s busiest thoroughfare: “The county will defer the CR 39 project to fall 2027, with construction extending to fall 2029.”

While an advisory was sent out by County Legislator Bridget Fleming’s office a week ahead of the teleconference, the March 6 meeting itself was sparsely attended.

Councilwoman Cynthia McNamara, in a March 13 missive to the legislator, said, “I am completely dismayed that the town was not included in the planning of a $9.6 million project that will further impact traffic. At a minimum, the county should have sought input from the Southampton Town highway superintendent, the Southampton Town police chief and our town engineer. These are the individuals who know this area best and will be managing the day-to-day issues caused by lane closures on the busiest traveled roadway in our town for the next two years. The fact that none of them were included should trouble everyone.”

With a nod to the “trade parade” commute coupled with the seasonal surge in traffic, the initial plan called for complex time frames for the work. At no time would there be total lane closures, officials said. At least one lane in each direction would be open and construction wasn’t planned to commence until after peak commuter times.

Asked at the meeting to consider doing the entire project at night, Suffolk County Chief Engineer William Hillman said it could be considered if residents didn’t object to the noise. McNamara wrote, “It was stated on the Zoom that the county would need to poll the residents on this stretch of roadway before committing to night work. No one polled the businesses owners who will have their livelihoods impacted by this work for two years, or the thousands of commuters who will see their already difficult commute impacted further.

“As someone who has sat in standstill traffic at the canal in the afternoon on a weekday because of a single lane closure for tree-trimming, I can tell you unequivocally that there simply are no “off-peak” travel times during the day on CR 39.”

Subsequently responding to Houghton’s array of questions, which included a request for nighttime work, is a terse sentence, “The county is agreeable.”

On the heels of the debut of that sidewalk project, county officials held another Zoom teleconference on another project planned nearby — on North Sea Road. The county plans to embark on an effort to resurface North Sea Road. The project includes crafting continuous shoulders, sidewalks and curbing running from County Road 39 to Millstone Brook Road, where county jurisdiction ends, plus drainage improvements, traffic signal improvements, and rumble strips. It’s slated to begin in the fall of 2024, last through the spring of 2026, and comes with a $16.5 million price tag.

Held March 28, the meeting drew double the attendees of the earlier outing. Most opposed the notion of sidewalks along the road, seeing them as an urbanizing amenity in a rural environment.

A new, proposed light at the intersection of North Sea Road and North Sea-Mecox Road was also cause for consternation. North Sea Citizens Advisory Committee member Dieter von Lehsten said it’s “a totally stupid idea” to install a light when there’s another traffic signal at the merge of Sandy Hollow Road and North Sea Road “just a few feet away.”

The curbing that would be constructed with the sidewalks could be a disaster for businesses along North Sea Road, speakers said at the teleconference. The concern was reiterated when county officials subsequently met, virtually, with the CAC this month.

CAC member Barbara Fair noted, “Whether you like sidewalks or not, that part of the plan is absurd. Our businesses would be strangled.” Single access cuts into businesses would have been a “nonstarter” if county officials spoke with members of the community, or at least town officials, before crafting a plan.

Fair said Hillman was asked if he’d reached out to the business owners and replied, “We can’t talk to everybody.”

Confronted with a community distaste of urbanizing sidewalks, Hillman said the construction of sidewalks is a mandate of the county’s “Complete Streets” legislation. Passed by the Suffolk County Legislature in 2012, it requires the Department of Public Works to consider all modes of travel — driving, biking, and walking — in its project designs.

CAC members researched the law and pointed out sidewalks are preferred but not required in improvement designs. While the concept is fine, Fair said, it doesn’t reflect the local rural character. “There is a sense of place that’s precious to many of us,” she said.

There’s yet a third county project on the horizon for the Town of Southampton. Plans to rebuild the railroad bridge near Gravel Hill Road in Hampton Bays will warrant closure of Montauk Highway. Questioned about potential overlap and asked for details of the project during the March 6 teleconference, Hillman declined to offer insight.

In response to Houghton’s questions later that month, county officials wrote, “The North Sea Road project will begin fall 2024 and will last through spring 2026. The CR 80 (LIRR) bridge project will begin summer 2025. However, all work prior to the fall of 2026 will be below the bridge and not affect the operation of CR 80, Montauk Highway. The bridge work will be complete in spring 2027. The county has scheduled these projects to ensure they do not overlap, thereby reducing the impact to the public as much as possible.”

County officials did not respond to a telephone request for comment. Questions for Public Works Commissioner Joseph Brown had to be sent to an email address. No response was received by The Press as of Wednesday, April 19.