Radar signs to be added along Peconic Bay Boulevard in latest effort to calm traffic

Southold Town will soon add radar signs along its portion of Peconic Bay Boulevard in the latest effort to calm traffic on the oft-traveled road.

Town Highway Superintendent Dan Goodwin presented plans to the Town Board at last Tuesday’s work session that show four signs being installed — two in each direction — at spots along the residential street that is used as a cut-through for drivers looking to avoid traffic on the main thoroughfares in the busier summer and fall seasons. 

The solar-powered signs, which would show drivers how fast they’re traveling along the 30 mph road, would face eastbound traffic in the vicinity of Brush’s Creek and the Mattituck Yacht Club and for westbound travelers slightly east of the yacht club and again near Birch Drive.

“There’s a couple things that I was looking for,” Mr. Goodwin told the board. “One is areas where you sort of gain speed naturally … and then we needed to look at sun exposure since they are solar-powered.”

Lastly, the newly elected highway superintendent, who took office in January, said they were looking at how speeding impacts residents and where complaints have come from to make sure it has “the most amount of impact.”

Mr. Goodwin said he’s also looking to add more 30 mph speed signs along the corridor, something he said can be time consuming in Southold Town, which unlike Riverhead and other Long Island municipalities does not have the machinery to make its own signs. He told Supervisor Scott Russell he would like to look into purchasing the appropriate equipment in the near future.

Mr. Goodwin said travelers have already crossed the Riverhead Town line and traveled more than 1,000 feet before they reach the first speed-control sign and no signs currently mark that you’ve crossed into a different township.

“It’s just the awareness there, making people aware of what’s going on,” he said.

Resident complaints about traffic have increased along Peconic Bay Boulevard in recent years after smart phone technology began directing additional traffic to the street, which stretches from Meeting House Creek Road in Aquebogue to Bay Avenue in Mattituck, as an alternate route to Main Road and Sound Avenue.

Last year, Southold Town adopted a weight limit to keep trucks off the roadway, something that had previously been done in Riverhead Town.