Expected Lowe's, Home Depot traffic glut addressed with signal

The Smithtown Town Board unanimously approved an agreement with Suffolk County last week to install a traffic signal at a busy intersection in Commack where a Lowe’s home improvement store is under construction.

The traffic signal will be installed at Crooked Hill Road, which is County Road 13, and Garet Place, where Lowe’s plans to build an access road as part of its construction project, said Suffolk County Public Works Commissioner Gilbert Anderson.

“You have all the traffic trying to come out of a Home Depot and a shopping center in the area,” he said. “Now, you’re going to add Lowe’s to the picture and the people trying to get out of their site. It’s going to become a very hectic intersection very quickly.”

Lowe’s will be responsible for installing the signal “because they’re impacting our road,” said Anderson, adding that Suffolk County will inspect the signal during construction.

The traffic signal is part of the site plan process, which features several other requirements for the proposed 140,000-square-foot-building on a 30-acre site, said Smithtown planning director Frank DeRubeis.

Smithtown traffic safety director Mitchell Crowley said, “The design of traffic signal is governed by the county, but we do all of the maintenance on it.”

The town would oversee resetting the controller, replacing lights that go out, or any problems that come up during storms, he said.

Construction at the Lowe’s site, which started about five months ago, is “supposed to be completed by November,” DeRubeis said.

Anderson said, “They can’t open the site without the traffic signal.”

Lowe’s did not immediately respond for comment.