Bellport Village Trustee Steve Mackin, who was elected this summer, is trying to make good on a campaign pledge to address public safety issues in the village.
Mackie, a Bieselin Road resident, is spearheading a traffic calming initiative during which new stop signs, speed humps, street lines and road markings, even a village-wide 25 mph speed limit will all be considered.
Mackin is a 15-year Bellport Fire Department volunteer and field representative for Mobile Fleet Inc., a Hauppauge company that sells and services emergency equipment.
“There’s a tons of kids in the neighborhoods,” said Mackin. “We have schools within the village. The kids are everywhere and people are flying up and down [the roadways]. This is all part of my reason for running; I want to bring more of a public safety awareness to the board; it’s a perfect fit for me.”
The board is looking to consider and implement the plan in three phases, all with much public input, Mackin said.
First, locations for new stop signs will be figured out and proposed, and possibly roadway markings.
“We don’t have street lines anywhere,” he said.
Second, the board will examine how to slow traffic along Country Club Road, the entire stretch of which — from Head of the Neck to South Country Road — has only one stop sign.
He said locals know to use Country Club as the quickest cut through the village, and it will be used even more so if another stop sign is added to Bieselin Road, which runs immediately parallel.
Lastly, a 25 mph speed limit will be considered, down from the current 30 mph.
Mackin said such a measure would likely have to go to a public vote.
“These are all mere suggestions that I’m just throwing out there and I welcome community input that,” he said.
Public discussions will be scheduled for future board hearings.
