New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF-Sag Harbor) today announced that he will introduce two pieces of legislation which would allow the Town of East Hampton and the Villages of East Hampton and Sag Harbor to make their streets safer by allowing said municipalities to further reduce speed limits in instances when other engineered traffic calming measures are not feasible to implement.

The first piece of legislation would allow the Town of East Hampton to lower town-wide speed limits to 25 miles per hour, and 15 miles per hour in school zones. East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said, “Reduced speed limits on narrow streets will allow us to improve safety in residential neighborhoods. This is a request we often receive from residents in the hamlets throughout Town, and I would like to thank Assemblyman Fred Thiele for being responsive to this concern.”

The second piece of legislation would allow the Villages of East Hampton and Sag Harbor to reduce speed limits to 20 miles per hour. “The Village of East Hampton thanks Assemblyman Thiele for drafting this legislation,” said Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach, Jr. “Many of our village roads are narrow and traffic calming measures just are not feasible on these roadways. By enabling the Village to lower the speed limit to 20 miles per hour on these roads, we can promote safer speeds for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists, who are all sharing the roadways.”

Brian Gilbride, Mayor of Sag Harbor Village, noted, “The downtown historic district is a very popular and busy area. With numerous small shops, restaurants and historic museums, pedestrian safety is of the utmost importance to our Village. We must also be sensitive to the fragile historic structures so close to vehicle traffic on our narrow side streets.”