Expressway through the pines??

LongIslandPiney

Explorer
Jan 11, 2006
484
0
Can you believe this?:siren:

Despite concerns over its potential impact on the core Pine Barrens area, a proposal by local resident Thomas Muller to create a new exit on the Long Island Expressway and run a two-mile bypass through Pine Barrens woods to County Road 111, south of the "main street" of Manorville, was met with an enthusiastic response at a meeting of the Manorville Taxpayers Association last week. [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Muller said he came up with the plan to make it easier for weekend visitors to the Hamptons to get to their destinations on the South Fork and to alleviate congestion and safety problems on CR 111. "People are dying on County Road 111, and the local people don't have anything resembling a hamlet main street," he stated.
"Creation of this new New York State expressway will solve the New York City-to-Hampton weekend thru-traffic volume and safety issue problems in Manorville at Exits 70 and 69," Muller continued. "This proposal will also end the traffic jamming on Wading River Road and South Street that is increasing as South Fork-bound travelers try to avoid the current gridlock and dangerous delays on County Road 111."
"We definitely need to take steps to alleviate the problem," said New York State Assemblyman Marc Alessi (D-Wading River). "CR 111 has been used as a shortcut for people going to the Hamptons. But it's also a local road. That puts the public in danger."
Muller, a former president of the Manorville Taxpayers Association, distributed his plan, entitled "A Manorville-Hamptons Expressway," to state, county and local officials in early August. Calling for a new Exit 70A just east of Halsey Manor Road on the Expressway, to merge with CR 111 south of Eastport Manor Road, he argued that "people on their way to the Hamptons have been trying to do 80 [mph] on the LIE. Now they've got to get to another superhighway to do 80 again and get to their destination. CR 111 was built with double lanes each way, but not divided, so people are going straight at each other."
"This proposal is outstanding," said Andrea Milano, head of the Manorville Taxpayers Association, after Muller's presentation at the Manorville Firehouse on September 7. Suffolk County Legislator Kate Browning (WF-Shirley) tends to agree. "I know that the Suffolk County Department of Public Works is studying the best course of action to increase the safety of County Road 111, and I would like to see their results," Browning said. "Mr. Muller's proposal appears to be a good solution, and I'd like to commend him for his work on this issue."
A county study on the traffic and safety situation, with funds for $200,000 appropriated for it in June, has not been started yet, according to Bill Faulk, a spokesperson for Suffolk County Legislator Ed Romaine (R-Riverhead).
"A consultant hasn't been hired yet, but we had a community meeting in July, and another one is planned for September 18," said Faulk. "Thus far, there's been an increased police presence, and we've asked that they look for short-term improvement - lights, stop signs."
Romaine, who has been active in addressing traffic concerns in the Manorville area, put in an unsuccessful bid for a capital project to redesign the roadways in the area last January, and plans to reintroduce a capital budget line item next year. One plan Romaine has looked at is a cloverleaf design at exit 70, which would alleviate the backup at the expressway, but would not remove the traffic going through the western portion of CR 111.
While a new exit east of exit 70 would answer that problem, of concern to Romaine and others is the cost of such a measure, as well as the fact that it cuts through the Pine Barrens region. "We have received the proposal and, while the concept would work, it would require taking of a lot of property and be very expensive," said Gilbert Anderson, chief deputy commissioner of the county's Department of Public Works.
New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele (R-Bridgehampton) added, "There's clearly a need for improvement, but there are right-of-way issues, cost issues. And then, the highway would run through the core area of the Pine Barrens."
The route, noted local naturalist Tom Stock, would go into and over the Manorville Hills and cut across the Paumanok Path. "It would necessitate [the] cutting of many pitch pine and oak trees," he said. "It would add to the risk of tainting the huge reservoir of clean potable water in the aquifer below, the shallow aquifer."
But Muller, who is an owner of Muller's Christmas Tree Farm in Manorville and an engineer at Brookhaven National Laboratory, as well as the civic representative for Brookhaven Town on the Long Island Central Pine Barrens Advisory Committee, said that state law allows for concerns like these to be waived if there is compelling public need, if public safety requires it and if no feasible alternative exists. "It's just two miles," he said. "And besides, the species that they're interested in preserving in the Pine Barrens is edge species. A Manorville-Hamptons expressway would create that edge."
In fact, Alessi said the solution may very well be to redirect traffic "before it even reaches CR 111 - perhaps at Nicolls Road, at Exit 62, one of the shortest routes to Route 27, and it's a highway. It's just that people have gotten used to using CR 111."
As for road changes in the Manorville area, Alessi added that he'd like to see the results of a professional study before deciding on any particular solution. "I know the county is doing a study," he said. "Should there be a stop light? A stop sign? I've seen the cloverleaf idea, that seems popular. Let's leave it to the experts."
Another public meeting to discuss the issue is scheduled for September 18 at 7 p.m. at the Manorville Firehouse.
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bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,154
4,258
Pines; Bamber area
"Muller, who is an owner of Muller's Christmas Tree Farm in Manorville and an engineer at Brookhaven National Laboratory, as well as the civic representative for Brookhaven Town on the Long Island Central Pine Barrens Advisory Committee, said that state law allows for concerns like these to be waived if there is compelling public need, if public safety requires it and if no feasible alternative exists. "It's just two miles," he said. "And besides, the species that they're interested in preserving in the Pine Barrens is edge species. A Manorville-Hamptons expressway would create that edge."

Mr. Muller is serving two God's at once. What good is he? After all, who is the "they" he is talking about. He is one of "they" if he is on the Pine Barrens Advisory Committee. Whats he doing, stabbing them in the back?
 

supercilious

Scout
Jun 27, 2004
35
0
arguement won, its obvious you need to expand a county road, township road, or imaginary road to 4 or 6 lanes to deal with traffic. Noone wants traffic, but they allow uncontrolled building, and they seem to like it, and those people who move into there want a 20 lane highway from work to house. I understand some of us, or maybe just me, think roads should be plugged with traffic, to help hold on to land resources, and fight expansion. Im not everyone, and but some say we need more, and larger roads with less traffic, expand every road, to access all lands with ease, allow for a demand of more commercial expansion/housing expansion along that road. Which is a cycle which turns areas into Hoboken. Any excuse for expanding roads will not meet opposition, it gives to people living there, and to commercial interests, so its basically undefeatable. New Jersey has no plan for communities, and resources, like other european nations, here its a free for all for money, and satisfaction from whatever the cost. I said before, live long enuff, your going to have suburbs which are called cities all over the pines.
 
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