Residents: St. Mary’s Road has become a ‘speedway’

Residents on St. Mary’s Road came before the Town Board to say they were living with a dangerous situation that could turn tragic because of cars and trucks speeding through their neighborhood

With several children from the area sitting in the front row of the Town Hall meeting room, Karla Friedlich, representing the residents, presented a petition to the board, signed, she said, by 40 people in just three days, asking for an end to the use of their street as “St. Mary’s Speedway.”

Vehicles flying down the road above the speed limit are common on the stretch from the traffic Circle at Manwaring Road south past Ginny Drive, Ms. Friedlich said. Neighbors have appealed to the Police and Highway departments for help and were directed to the Town Board, she added.

There are many small children in the area — 28 alone on Ginny Drive, according to the petition — and with the Whale’s Tale miniature golf facility up the road, many are walking and riding bikes during the day and evening hours.

St. Mary’s Road is also listed on Google maps as a truck route, which the commercial vehicles use “as a cutoff to avoid the police and low speed limits on Route 114,” the petition states.

The residents are calling for the speed limit, now 35, to be lowered, more stop signs, speed “humps” to be erected and the street not to be listed as a truck route.

Police Chief Jim Read said officers are regularly patrolling the area and the department is recording data, but nothing can be done until the fall when an analysis of the data is undertaken.

Deputy Supervisor Chris Lewis didn’t think that was enough. “This deserves more attention,” Ms. Lewis said, “because of the numbers of children on the street.” She called for an end “at once” of truck traffic on St. Mary’s Road.

In other business: The board returned to the issue of unregulated short term rentals with many of the same arguments presented that have been aired over the last several weeks. New voices in the debate were representatives of the Dering Harbor Inn, who said they were seeking “a level playing field” for tourist accommodations and that occupancy rates were down this summer for the Inn and other hotels. They placed the blame on homeowners renting rooms for a weekend or less.

Chuck Krasue, who has spoken before in favor of the short-term rentals benefitting the local economy, said Tuesday that Shelter Island is “a family oriented tourist destination.”

It was reiterated that Shelter Island is the only East End town allowing unregulated short-term rentals.