OCTOBER 24, 2007, FARMINGVILLE, NY – Brookhaven Town Supervisor Brian X. Foley, Highway Superintendent John Rouse, Councilman Kevin McCarrick and National Grid officials announced at a press conference on Wednesday that National Grid has committed to providing the Town with access to build a new road to the ball fields at the end of Defense Hill Road in Shoreham. The new road will provide easier access for parents and youngsters using the ball fields and will also end heavy traffic through the residential community on Defense Hill Road.

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Brian X. Foley announced Wednesday that a new access road will be built across National Grid property to access ballfields at the end of Defense Hill Road in Shoreham. Left to right are Mike Julian and Gary Frisina of Shoreham-Wading River Little League, Assistant Parks Commissioner Bill Shilling, Supervisor Foley, Highway Superintendent John Rouse, National Grid Executive Vice President David Manning, Parks Commissioner Jim LaCarrubba and Patricia Bartnick of the Defense Hill Road Block Association.

   “We are here today to announce a case study in public-private partnership, a partnership between the Town of Brookhaven and National Grid, who came together to solve a community challenge,” said Supervisor Foley.

   “Just south of here are 16 homes – former military housing, and now a middle class neighborhood in Shoreham. The problem is this: Their road has been the only way in and the only way out for the town ballfields where we stand, ballfields that have attracted more and more users as the Shoreham community has grown. And the more users of these ballfields, the more traffic on the road, the longer the back-up at the gate, the more spillover of parking onto the roadway.

   “It’s been a growing problem for years, a problem that, like many local issues, fell on deaf ears at Brookhaven Town Hall. Until we arrived.

   “I and my senior staff – led by our Deputy Commissioner of Parks Bill Shilling – met with community residents and the youth groups who use these ballfields. And after exhaustive study, we concluded that the only way to bring real relief to this community would be to get the traffic off the road, and to seek another way for motorists to get here.

   “That’s where National Grid – KeySpan at that time – came in. The land around the homes and the ballfields is owned by National Grid. My senior staff met with the leadership of National Grid to explore creation of a bypass road on their property to allow traffic to move from Route 25A to these ballfields.

   “After many months of work, I am pleased to announce that the Town of Brookhaven and National Grid have come to an ‘agreement in principle’ that will allow the town to build a bypass road that runs just east of the homes on Defense Hill Road. The commitment of National Grid and Keyspan, its precursor, to community has been rock solid over the years, and once again, they have come through.”

   “I commend National Grid for working with the Town and the community to solve this problem,” said Highway Superintendent Rouse. “I look forward to hammering out the details and getting to work on the new access road.”

   “National Grid is pleased to partner with Supervisor Brian Foley, the Town of Brookhaven, and our neighbors on Defense Hill Road in the Shoreham-Wading River community,” said David Manning, Executive Vice President of National Grid. “The bypass road will improve the quality of life of local residents and is an example of the commitment to community that we at National Grid share with our partners in Brookhaven Town.”

Office of the Supervisor
One Independence Hill • Farmingville • NY 11738 • Phone (631) 451-6955 • Fax (631) 451-6677