After years, push for walkways succeeds

When Julie Hopson's cousin, Valerie Turner, 6, was killed getting off a school bus on the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike in 1969, her uncle successfully petitioned the county and town for walkways along the busy Southampton highway.

But time and the elements have since eroded any safe passage.

Crumbling asphalt walkways and overgrown branches close to the two-lane road make for hazardous travel for residents walking into town or riders exiting buses off the county road.

So Hopson and a cousin, Brenda Pinchney, petitioned the town and county in 2006 to put in concrete to replace the deteriorating asphalt. Nearly five years later, the sidewalks are on their way.

"It's dangerous," said Hopson, who lives close to the turnpike, as do many of her relatives. "They can give out a $500,000 loan for an historical museum, but sidewalks for everyone to walk on, we have to petition for?"

Many pedestrians use the turnpike, a major connector between the Village of Sag Harbor and the hamlet of Bridgehampton, including those who live in neighborhoods behind or along the route. A community center, child-care center, two museums and two churches are also along the route.

"The wheels of government turn slowly," said Southampton Councilwoman Nancy Graboski, who took on the project four years ago. "It's going to be a happy day when we have the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and we can walk down this brand-new sidewalk."

The town will pay $100,000 and the county $400,000 for the sidewalks to be installed along a two-mile stretch on the west side of the roadway, from Scuttlehole Road to Route 27.

On the east side, a small stretch of about 3,000 feet, from Woodruff Lane to Sunrise Avenue, will also have sidewalks around the area of the Children's Museum of the East End and the South Fork Natural History Museum. A crosswalk between the museums and a bus stop shelter or bench will also be considered, said Bill Hillman, Suffolk County's chief engineer.

The petition, signed by more than 200 residents, started the town and county on a quest to find money for the project. Hopson and several other residents turned up at a work session earlier last month to look at the plans and applaud the start of the project.

The sidewalks will be concrete with asphalt "tip-up," or slanted, curbing, keeping them more in line with the town's rural character, and making it easier for turtles, which traverse the area, to get over the curb safely, officials said.

Southampton Highway Superintendent Alexander Gregory reminded the board that new sidewalks mean more snowplowing, which will be the town's responsibility.

The project could start this spring, with completion as early as late spring or as late as fall. The road will remain open with a lane in each direction, Hillman said.