Officials urge lower speed limits on County Road 48

Suffolk County’s Department of Public Works has recommended that the Town Board vote to reduce speed limits on County Road 48 in Southold.

But the board left a resolution to vote on that matter off the agenda at a recent regular meeting in order to allow time for public input.

Alexander Prego, assistant chief engineer with the county, attended the meeting virtually to discuss the recommendations in detail.

“Essentially, what we did here is we made it a little more consistent,” Mr. Prego said. “We removed some of what we might call ‘yo-yo’ — some of the up and down. None of it is going to be raised, and a good portion of it is going to be lowered.”

The county recommendations were made after thorough research by traffic engineers.

“We did a comprehensive study along the entire corridor to verify either the existing speed limits were appropriate or if they should be lowered by 5 or 10 miles per hour,” Mr. Prego said. 

The current  speed limits range between 40 and 50 miles per hour, and often vary from block to block. The county recommends reducing the limit to 45 mph on most of the thoroughfare. The section between Leon Road and Chapel Lane should have a maximum speed of 40 mph, officials say.

Mr. Prego said this research was prompted by requests to lower speed limits in one or two unspecified areas. The county gave it a broader, more comprehensive look, he said.

Town officials including Anne Smith, Town Board liaison to the transportation commission, and Highway Superintendent Dan Goodwin supported the recommended changes.

“To make [the speed limits] more consistent across the stretch, I think it’s a no- brainer,” Mr. Goodwin said. “They’ve done their homework, we need to support them in this.”

The next step is for the Town Board to adopt a resolution making the recommended changes. Then, a TE-9 form must be completed and forwarded to the county, which will then execute and submit the request to New York State.