Cover photo: Town Line Road near Commack High School (Credit – Matt Meduri)
The Smithtown Town Council voted 5-0 at their Tuesday Town Council meeting to authorize an amendment to the Uniform Traffic Code to change speed limits on a section of Town Line Road in Commack.
The section of road stretches from Commack High School and North Ridge Elementary, about 230 feet south of Scholar Lane, north towards the intersection of Marshmallow Drive and Cornflower Lane. The change reduces the speed limit to twenty miles per hour in the extended area for the designated school zone.
The change comes at the request of the Commack Civic Association, who notified Supervisor Ed Wehrheim (R-Kings Park) and the Town Council of frequent speeding. With the school year approaching, the civic association asked to make the school zone safer for school children. Smithtown Traffic Safety will install new signage within a week of the change, a Town spokesperson told The Messenger. The spokesperson also said that there will likely be a grace period for drivers to become accustomed to the changes, but that the Suffolk County Police Department will be contacted to patrol the area and enforce the new limit.
Civic groups along Town Line Road also requested that tractor-trailer traffic be restricted from the road. Since Town Line Road is split between Smithtown and Huntington, the Town Council will have to await action from Huntington Town Supervisor Ed Smyth (R-Lloyd Harbor) and the respective Town Board.
Supervisor Wehrheim stated at Tuesday’s meeting that Huntington is “amicable” to the traffic restrictions.
