The Hedges Inn in East Hampton has a problem: Cars keep crashing into it
A wave of dread hits Jenny Lilja whenever her landline phone rings in the middle of the night.
Lilja, the general manager and executive chef of The Hedges Inn in East Hampton, said she has come to expect who’s calling: village police with the news that another vehicle has barreled into the historic inn.
It’s happened eight times in the last decade, according to Lilja, 39. Some were direct hits, others took out fencing and landscaping, she said.
The last two incidents, on Jan. 15 and in November 2022, have sparked a renewed push among East Hampton Village officials to find a solution.
Lilja told the village board at a Jan. 19 meeting she was “begging for help and cooperation.”
“At this point I’m worried I’m being negligent not doing something to try to correct it,” she said later in an interview.
Mayor Jerry Larsen and Police Chief Jeffrey Erickson acknowledged the problem has been going on for years.
East Hampton Village Police said they couldn’t immediately provide crash data for the location Wednesday.
But it’s no secret to anyone in the village that the inn, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and features 14 rooms and a restaurant, is in a precarious spot at 74 James Lane.
Drivers heading east on Route 27, the main artery for traffic, reach a traffic light in the village where there’s a T-intersection. To continue east, drivers must make a left turn onto Main Street.
The inn sits about 75 yards directly beyond the intersection in the path of any vehicles that inadvertently continue straight.
During the day, normal traffic conditions typically prevent drivers from speeding and missing the turn, Erickson said. But at night, “the runway’s open,” he added.
“I think it would behoove the board and all of us to put our heads together to come up with some sort of long-term solution to solve this problem,” the police chief said at the recent village meeting.
Jenny Lilja, general manager and executive chef of The Hedges Inn, which was recently damaged when a car crashed into the front of the historic landmark. Credit: Tom Lambui
The mayor said in an interview that village officials previously have discussed possible solutions but no action has been taken.
“I’m just afraid if we keep pushing this can down the road, somebody’s going to be killed,” he added.
Officials said that has hasn’t happened — yet.
“It’s just a matter of time that something more serious happens here,” said David Collins, the village’s highway superintendent, at the Jan. 19 meeting.
Larsen said the village plans to hire a traffic engineer at its next meeting to study the location and advise the board on possible solutions.
Changes to Route 27, a state road, require approval from the New York State Department of Transportation. Stephen Canzoneri, an agency spokesman, said Tuesday that state transportation officials aren’t aware of any safety issues at the location.
Ideas floated at the recent board meeting ranged from installing large sand barrels typically seen near highway exits, to speed bumps, to a catch-net cable system designed to stop runaway trucks on steep slopes.
Village officials said they don’t want to compound the problem by installing a hard barrier that could increase the chances of serious injury.
In the Jan. 15 crash, an 18-year-old driver from West Islip was speeding in a 2017 Infiniti sedan with three teenage passengers just before 1 a.m., according to a village police report. It said a police officer tried to stop the car nearby, but the motorist allegedly fled and missed the turn before losing control and driving head-on into the inn’s porch.
The inn’s video surveillance system caught the crash on camera. It shows the sedan momentarily airborne before its hood smashes into the front porch, obliterating two pillars. The lights from the trailing police vehicle enter the frame a few seconds later.
“It’s crazy when you see a car like flying at 80 mph through the air,” Lilja said. “It’s just nuts.”
The inn is closed for the season, but Lilja said it wouldn’t be uncommon for guests to be on the porch at that hour when it’s open.
Rumble strips, which are intended to alert drivers, have been on the eastbound road for at least a decade, according to the village.
But authorities said they weren’t enough to jolt a ride-share driver who fell asleep in November 2022. In that crash, the driver plowed into the building in a 2018 Mercedes and suffered minor injuries, according to a police report.
That wreck knocked part of the building off its foundation, according to Lilja, who said the repairs cost about $280,000.
No drugs or alcohol were involved the crash this year or in 2022, according to police.
The West Islip teenager in the latest wreck faces misdemeanor charges of unlawfully fleeing police and reckless driving, and more than a dozen vehicle and traffic violations, according to police. They said he was hospitalized after the crash with internal injuries and is scheduled for arraignment in East Hampton Town Justice Court on Feb. 7.
Joe Werkmeister covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.
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