Plan for express lane on Sunrise Hwy. for U.S. Open draws Shinnecock outrage

A leader of the Shinnecock Indian Nation on Friday expressed outrage that the tribe was not consulted on a plan to convert a portion of Sunrise Highway through tribal land in Hampton Bays into an express lane to accommodate increased traffic during the upcoming U.S. Open golf tournament.

Lisa Goree, chairwoman of the Shinnecock Indian Nation Council of Trustees, said the plan coming amid federal, state and town cases that have blocked Shinnecock economic development projects on the property, amounted to "another punch to the gut for us." 

The plan came about after consultations between the U.S. Golf Association, which sponsors the U.S Open, and the state Department of Transportation. The DOT in 2019 sued Shinnecock Nation leaders, including Goree, over tribal digital billboards along Sunrise Highway on Shinnecock land known as Westwoods. A state Supreme Court justice has ordered the tribe to turn off digital billboards, but the tribe is refusing to obey.

Glenn Blain, a state DOT spokesman, stressed that the work is not an expansion of Sunrise Highway and called it "temporary."

"As part of their traffic-control plan for the U.S. Open, the USGA, under a highway work permit, is temporarily configuring the highway to use one westbound lane to serve as an eastbound bus lane during the morning hours," Blain said in a statement. "To support this, temporary crossovers are being constructed outside the limits of the Shinnecock’s Westwood property." 

New York State’s 3.5-acre easement through the 82-acre Westwood property was obtained in 1959 to complete Sunrise Highway, and is the subject of a federal lawsuit filed by the tribe in Central Islip. The suit names as defendants Gov. Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James and DOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez. State Supreme Court Justice Maureen Liccione is also a named defendant.

The Shinnecock Nation, in court papers and elsewhere, has accused the state of illegally obtaining the easement, noting it does not bear the signature of a tribal member and that it was served on a former tribal leader at a building in Babylon, not the tribe’s Southampton reservation.

"It’s the hypocrisy that is really just unreal," Goree said. "The state DOT, of course, wants to accommodate the folks coming out here for a week, but they want to stop us from putting up signs that have absolutely no impact on traffic."

Goree said the tribe was not notified of the plan, which members learned of following revelations of a USGA-attended work session at Southampton Town Hall last week. Tribe members didn’t attend the session.

Of particular concern to the tribe, Goree said, is what may happen to the traffic plan once the golf tournament is over.

"We are going to wait and see how this is going to impact our territory," she said. "Is it going to be permanent? I’d heard some of those structural changes would be left in place. Why would you want to make it easier for town constituents that cross into our land."

Beth Major, a spokeswoman for USGA, said of the Sunrise Highway express lane was initiated "to help minimize the traffic impact of the U.S. Open." She noted the work has been "duly permitted by the [state DOT] to upgrade the existing turnaround on Route 27 (Sunrise Highway) between Route 24 and Squiretown Road.”

She said USGA, over the past several months, has been “in touch with the [Shinnecock] Council on a number of topics leading into this year’s championship, and have developed both a great relationship and an agreement with the Council, one that provides a variety of opportunities for the Nation to benefit from the championship.”

James Burke, Southampton Town attorney, declined to comment on the matter, which primarily involves the USGA and the state. 

The Town of Southampton has filed a separate lawsuit that challenges the Shinnecock Nation's plan for a gasoline station/travel plaza on the Westwoods land. The town won a court-ordered halt to construction of the project last year. The tribe argues that neither the town nor the state has any jurisdiction over Shinnecock territory after a 2025 affirmation by the U.S. Department of the Interior that Westwoods is federally protected, aboriginal Shinnecock land that only an act of Congress can abridge.

Tela Troge, a Shinnecock member and attorney, said the nation intends to file an update with the federal court to let the judge know "the state is constructing new highway lanes" in the case that challenges the state’s easement.

Troge stressed that the nation "does not want to prevent the USGA" from efficiently getting visitors to the U.S. Open, but expressed alarm that "critical steps weren’t taken to consult with the tribe, negotiate a solution or for compensation."

"We’re very willing to negotiate with the USGA for access," Troge said. "We’re not trying to stop the plan, but we need to be involved in the discussion." 

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.