Eastbound traffic on 27A eastbound this morning from Shinnecock into Southampton Village is considerably more congested than last week or even the previous several months. Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that the Southampton Village Board unanimously approved a two-week pilot program for September — which began yesterday afternoon - that bans left hand turns onto and off both Lee Avenue and Captains Neck Lane at their intersections with Hill Street. The plan included the installation yesterday afternoon of a temporary traffic light at the intersection of Halsey Neck Lane and Hill Street. Consequently, eastbound traffic approaching that new light is noticeably heavier during the trade parade this morning than since the spring.

The pilot program resolution included the caveat that the program or aspects of it can be halted at anytime if the village deems it is creating a safety issue. It is certainly creating a new off-season traffic issue this morning. The pilot program is scheduled to conclude Friday night, September 19.

An important feature of the temporary program is that the no-left-turn restrictions on Lee Avenue and Captains Neck Lane will be in effect around the clock, instead of only during rush hour. That was a recommendation made by the VHB engineers for the purpose of avoiding any kind of confusion for motorists, and making it less cumbersome and difficult to enforce for Southampton Village Police.

Traffic engineer Ryan Winter said his firm would be collecting data on the traffic patterns on those streets during the two-week program to analyze the effects.

Southampton Village Police Chief Suzanne Hurteau said the two week pilot project would cost in terms of extra labor from the police force during that time, an estimated total of anywhere from $35,000 to $38,000.

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East End school board members, PTA leaders, parents, residents, and high school students who are newly serving this school year as ex-officio school board trustees are all invited to the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island and North Fork’s free forum titled “School Boards, the Training Wheels of Democracy: What You Should Know and How to Get Involved.”

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that this in person-live event is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 18 at 6:30 p.m., at East Hampton Town’s LTV Studios, 75 Industrial Rd. in Wainscott. The panel discussion will be moderated by the League’s Government Committee Chair Andrea Gabor, the Bloomberg Chair of Business Journalism at Baruch College/CUNY.

Panelists include Robert Vecchio, the executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association overseeing the school boards on Long Island; Germain Smith, a current Southampton School Board trustee and member of the Shinnecock Nation; and Kate Rossi-Snook, a recent six-year Shelter Island School Board Trustee.

A Q&A session will follow the forum.

LTV is asking all to register for this free program on their website at www.ltveh.org. For those not able to attend in person, the forum will also be up for viewing within five business days afterward on LTV’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/LTVEastHampton

Information on the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island & North Fork is available on its website at: lwvhsinf.org

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The 37,000-square-foot commercial development on Route 25A in Wading River known as Venezia Square received preliminary site plan approval last Thursday from the Riverhead Town Planning Board. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the site plan proposes a campus-style shopping center, which would include:

• Two 1,500-square-foot, 16-seat take out restaurants
• One 3,000-square-foot, 76-seat restaurant.
• One 4,000-square-foot bank...