Stop signs debated near Fifth Street in Greenport
A proposal to put stop signs at the south ends of Fifth and Sixth streets in Greenport ran into some opposition at a public hearing May 24.
The plan would place a stop sign on both roads heading south at the intersection with Johnson Place, which connects the streets along the north side of the Fifth Street park.
Trustee Doug Roberts proposed the change, which he said was inspired by Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley’s comments during a recent Village Board hearing on lowering speed limits.
Chief Flatley said enforcement is the best way to deal with speeding, but in Greenport, there are stop signs at many intersections, which also helps.
Sixth Street resident John Saladino disagreed, questioning whether anyone other than Mr. Roberts supported the proposal. If there were data to show that people are speeding, he said, he might support the measure.
“To prevent people from speeding, we’re going to put a stop sign 100 feet from a dead-end street?” he asked.
Dinni Gordon of Sixth Street said the end of the road is near the beach and the park, which host a lot of children and families.
“To me, it’s appropriate to get people to slow down, even if they are not speeding,” she said.
Retired police officer Gary Charters said studies have shown that stop signs are not recommended for speed control, because cars will go faster between the signs to make up the lost time, accelerating and decelerating in between the stop signs rather than going a constant speed.
Mayor George Hubbard Jr. said there had been a request for the stop signs, so he felt it should be discussed in a public hearing.
That hearing was closed and board members will discuss the issue further before making a decision.
Highway barn addition
The Village Board voted to bond $500,000 to buy the property next to the village highway department yard on Sixth Street, in order to expand that facility, according to Mr. Hubbard.
“It’s right next to our highway barn and it’s got a commercial building in the back and an apartment in the front, so we’re going to expand our highway barn,” he said, adding that the highway barn is running out of space.
The property is 0.189 of an acre. The board also voted to bond $150,000 for partial reconstruction and improvement of the buildings on the site.
Photo caption: The intersection where the proposed stop signs would be placed. (Tim Gannon photo)
