Politics & Government

Russell: Speeding Number One Issue In Southold

Southold Town officials want to crack down on speeding.

Speeding is the number one complaint among Southold Town residents.

At Tuesday's Southold town board work session, Councilman Chris Talbot suggested police amp up efforts to ticket drivers who are speeding.

"Even low levels of speeding -- we need to cut it down," Talbot said.

Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley said there has been talk about assigning sector cars to address speeding in areas such as Cox Neck Road, Cox Lane, and Hortons Lane. The goal was to take another officer and add him to the highway patrol over summer, Flatley said. "But we're not going to be able to do that this summer."

The problem, the chief said, is that officers assigned to watch for speeding drivers get called away to other crimes.

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said speeding is an issue. "Around here, if you go 50 miles an hour in a 40 mile per hour zone, you are holding up traffic," he said.

Flatley said drivers speeding in areas such as Cox Neck are going only a bit above the speed limit; those streets are not where the majority of speeding incidents take place. "Meanwhile, we could put all of our guys on Route 48 to control the speeding and accidents that happen there," he said.

"I don't think this board has any problem with the intensive writing up of speed violations," Talbot said.

Russell said speeding is the number one complaint he receives from Southold Town residents. "Speeding is number one, and helicopter noise has replaced deer as number two. Deer are third," he said.


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