There are three main ways to drive into Sag Harbor. You can come in on Route 114 from East Hampton, you can come over the bridge from North Haven, or you can come up the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike from Bridgehampton. On each of these routes, there is a small area just before you enter the Village that is considered a gateway to Sag Harbor.
Coming from North Haven, the stretch of Ferry Road from the roundabout to the bridge, including the bridge itself, is considered the gateway area. This is a truly lovely way to approach the Harbor with both elegant estates and water views all along the way. Happily, it is unlikely that there will be substantial changes to this gateway in the foreseeable future.
On Route 114, the gateway was previously a little vague, but thanks to the recent efforts of some local community groups and the State Dept. of Transportation, the beginning of the gateway is now clearly marked by an attractive oval sign welcoming you to the Village. In addition, the DOT added a small island in the middle of the road, as well as sidewalks and a bike lane to let drivers know that they are entering a populated area and should slow down. That stretch along Rt. 114 is almost completely residential, and the transition from the mainly wooded area leading up to the gateway to the Village’s heavily commercial downtown is both gradual and graceful. This gateway too, is not likely to see major changes anytime soon.
That leaves the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, which I will henceforth refer to by its shorter (and easier-to-type) name, CR 79. (CR stands for County Road.) This gateway, which runs approximately from the transfer station to Otter Pond, is a bit more problematic. For one thing, it currently supports a mixture of uses — everything from undeveloped land, to a factory, with some houses and other businesses thrown in for good measure. There’s also a lovely view of a pond that is part of the Long Pond Greenbelt, which runs parallel to and just east of the road. The zoning here is something of a crazy-quilt, with everything from highway business to various residential configurations side by side with little rhyme or reason.
In addition, on this long straight road with few interrupting cross streets, cars tend to pick up speed from Scuttlehole Road and come flying around the curve before the park, where the speed limit suddenly drops to 25 mph without much warning. Unlike Rt. 114, drivers on CR 79 aren’t given any clues that they’re entering a more densely populated and intensively used area until they’re suddenly in the middle of it. As a gateway to our charming, historic and heavily used Village, this area is in need of some serious rethinking.
From a transportation standpoint, a gateway should provide drivers with lots of visual cues that they are entering a more populated area so they can slow down and be more watchful for the unexpected. Sidewalks, bike lanes, narrower driving lanes, crosswalks, on-street parallel parking, and signage are all ways to accomplish this goal. In terms of development along the road, the ideal mix would probably fill around the existing businesses with various types of residential development and other low-impact commercial establishments such as Bed and Breakfasts or offices, maybe with apartments above. Perhaps, some open space would be preserved as well. Unfortunately, the current highway business zoning allows for a very different type of development that could include lumber yards and car dealerships — not the sort of things one would hope to see lining the main road into the village and just down the block from the park.
Fortunately, a coalition of civic groups has prevailed upon the Town of Southampton to undertake a study of this area before full development under current zoning turns it into another County Road 39. And there’s more good news. Sag Harbor’s forward-looking Mayor, Greg Ferraris, wants to extend this study right up to Jermain Avenue, and is working closely with the Town to make this happen.
This is where you come in. Once again, you have an easy opportunity to be a local hero. The Town’s chief planner, Jefferson Murphree, has indicated that his department will be looking for input from the community once they begin work on their study. So, if you have suggestions as to what should be done to make the gateway safer and to ensure that it retains the flavor and character of the Village for which it serves as an entrance, please speak up.
There are many ways to be heard on this issue. I’ll list a few of them:
- Write a letter to the Planning Department of Southampton Town;
- Write a letter to the Mayor of Sag Harbor;
- Write a letter to the Editor of the Sag Harbor Express;
- Attend a Sag Harbor CAC (Citizens Advisory Committee) meeting;
- Attend a CONPOSH (Coalition of Neighborhoods to Preserve Sag Harbor) meeting.
- If your concerns are mainly about traffic on CR 79, you can also write to County Legislator Jay Schneiderman who is the chairman of the Legislature’s Public Works Committee.
Of course, if you like the look of County Road 39 in Southampton, and don’t mind increased traffic (and the accidents that come with it), you can just sit back and wait. It’ll all be here before you know it.
