Eyesore Southampton Street Corners to Be Fixed Soon

When new crossing signals were installed at the intersection of Main Street and Hampton Road in Southampton Village recently, the sidewalks were torn up — but Mayor Mark Epley said the curbs will be fixed soon.

Sidewalk bricks were removed and set aside in stacks as utility work to install the signals was done underground. Epley said the bricks will all be put back in place.

Some cement sections of sidewalk were torn up and replaced with black asphalt. “It was just put in there so you wouldn't have a hole — so no one would trip on it," Epley said. The asphalt is only temporary and the cement look of the street corners will be restored, he said.

Though Epley said eyesores will be alleviated soon, he could not say for certain that the work will be completed before Memorial Day weekend, as he had hoped.

Epley said the new crossing signals are more technologically advanced, allowing them to be timed together to make traffic flow more smoothly.

The signals also include countdown timers, which tell pedestrians how much time they have to cross before the light changes.

Epley said work is being done to improve pedestrian safety thanks to a Safe Routes to School grant and a traffic calming grant.

There are also orange traffic cones on Windmill Lane and Bowden Square, where the village is having stormwater catch basins installed. Epley said the basins will prevent water from pouring into and polluting Lake Agawam.