LIRR And Hampton Jitney Hope To Rescue CTY RD 39

By Janine Cheviot

Eastbound commuters were indubitably pleased with the temporary relief provided by the extension of the "cops and cones" program through October 15, but the certainty that big delays would occur once the construction of the permanent eastbound lane on County Road 39 resumed left many drivers concerned. Fortunately, in an effort to avoid this anticipated congestion, Long Island Rail Road announced that they will be adding trains between Speonk and Montauk beginning October 23, which will run on weekdays until May 22.

The supplementary schedule announced last Tuesday includes three additional eastbound trains from Speonk (6:11 a.m., 8:32 a.m., 2:44 p.m.), two ending in Montauk and one in East Hampton, and three additional westbound trains ending in Speonk, two beginning in Montauk (12:28 p.m., 4:22 p.m.) and one in East Hampton (7:26 a.m.). One-way, round trip, weekly and monthly commuter tickets will be available.

The local communities are now in the process of creating a shuttle service to transport LIRR riders from the train stations to their jobs and back.

According to State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., Hampton Jitney has also proposed increased service to relieve traffic, which would begin October 15 and run until the construction on County Road 39 was completed. The proposal states that Hampton Jitney would pick up commuters traveling eastbound beginning in Farmingville at 6:30 a.m. followed by stops in Manorville, Grabeski Airport, Southampton Town Parking Lot, Bridgehampton Commons, Sag Harbor and ending in East Hampton at 8:30 a.m. In addition, westbound service to the same seven locations would be scheduled beginning in East Hampton at 4:45 p.m. with the last stop in Farmingville around 6:45 p.m. The proposal also states that select existing Hampton Jitney line run trips would likely stop in Farmingville as well to accommodate westbound passengers who need to depart later in the evening.

Jennifer Friebely, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Hampton Jitney, pointed out that although the proposal is in its early stages, Hampton Jitney is simply trying to come up with a solution to help ease the increased congestion in a community they have served for over 33 years. "The proposal is something we put together to help the commuters," she said. "Hampton Jitney wants to do everything they can to make things easier for everyone out here. We want the businesses and people to thrive."

If the proposal is accepted as an incentive to passengers, Hampton Jitney would require the creation of a 1.5 mile eastbound "bus lane" on Route 27/Sunrise Highway's shoulder between Exit 66 North Road and Hill Station Road to bypass regular traffic. Friebely noted that the County buses already use the shoulder between North Road and the bottleneck at the Lobster Inn.

Hampton Jitney also proposed to offer passengers monthly passes that would allow passengers to travel within the Hamptons on existing Jitney line runs. "We're trying to be community focused," Friebely continued, "because that's what the Hampton Jitney is really about."

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