A plan from the New York State Department of Transportation got a nod from Town Board members at Tuesday's work session after Police Chief James Read explained traffic safety concerns.
The intersection in front of the Shelter Island School as it is signed now is “confusing,” Chief Read said. Route 114 drivers approaching from the north see a divided highway sign in Wilson Circle and drivers from the south have little guidance unless they are turning right. Stop signs control traffic at the other two entries to the roundabout on Bateman Road and School Street.
“If an accident occurs there, who has the right of way?” That's what Chief Read asked state traffic officials in a December 2008 letter he sent after hearing from callers with safety concerns late last fall. He received two more calls about the intersection last weekend.
A state engineer studied the intersection and proposed a plan to make it more like a traffic circle. The Town Board agreed to go along with the new plan.
Expect to see yield signs (shown as red triangles below) at each roadway approaching the circle and painted pavement to better define the traffic entrances. Two yield signs (dashed symbols) will be placed within the the painted areas. Drivers will have to yield to traffic already in the circle at every entrance, including Route 114 drivers who currently move through uninhibited.
The state indicated that the intersection improvements could be made “during this construction season,” but specific dates for the change are not yet available, Chief Read said.