The Bridge gone forever

Bridgehampton Race Circuit was the "local" tack for me I attended races and learned to drive competitively there as well as teaching my children to drive "properly" When i went there last year to see for myself what had happened i cried.Another victim of urban development the neighbors cried about the noise that combined with escalating expenses ended the racing and it was sold to developers who have turned it into a golf course
I found this page and thought it would be good to share with those who have memories of thes great track
https://www.fdfoto.com/ssscbds/photos.html

That page is from my friends at South Shore Sports Car & Beer Drinking Society. They are one of the affiliate clubs that form EMRA (where I am the RaceChair). I just got one of their shirts.

My first track to race on was Bridghampton (in a Sprite, natch).

The locals whined about the track noise so they closed it and built that golf course. But the soil out in the Hamptons is weak, so they used a ton of chemical fertilizer to keep the greens looking good....and it has polluted many of local wells as a result. Be careful what you wish for!

Really too bad about the track though....

Riverside,Westwood,Bridgehampton....Is there nothing
sacred?
I'm going back to the '70s.

- Doug

Ooh! Can I come too?!? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

Bruce MacInnes (the rubber chicken) was my Skip Barber instructor in 1982.

70's would be nice! Late 60's even better /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/nopity.gif
Those pix brought back some good memories! Last race there we thought we blew up in practice, put the car on the trailer in disgust (covered in oil etc.!) /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/mad.gif spectated for a while before heading home. Got home and found the only thing wrong was the dizzy hold-down bolt had broke and popped the dizzy out! Coulda fixed that and raced!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/rolleyes.gif

That's something that really gets up my nose. People know that there is a race track there when they buy their houses, and then they complain about the noise! There should be a regulation that makes one sign a disclaimer. If you know that the circuit is there, you expect there to be noise. That's what race tracks do. Having signed the disclaimer, you are thereby prohibited from complaining about noise emanating from that circuit.

The Milwaukee Mile (oval roundy-round track) is situated in the heart of West Allis (Milwaukee burb) WI, and the noise from there is tremendous. It's surrounded by residential areas but the attitude there seems to be "Hey you knew that it was there when you built/bought your house, put up or shut up...it's great for the economy."

"That's something that really gets up my nose. People know that there is a race track there when they buy their houses, and then they complain about the noise! There should be a regulation that makes one sign a disclaimer. If you know that the circuit is there, you expect there to be noise. That's what race tracks do. Having signed the disclaimer, you are thereby prohibited from complaining about noise emanating from that circuit."
------------------------
Steve--

There's a whole body of law surrounding the legal doctrine of "Nuisance" and while there are general statements that if one moves "to" a nuisance he is estopped from complaining about it nothing is ever that simple and there are always exceptions, etc. Neighborhoods change and usually become more affluent or developed with more and more people willing to fund litigation seeking to shut down a track, etc. and not withstanding the above no one is prohibited from filing a lawsuit, circulating petitions, etc. etc. The race track may ultimately have the defense of estoppel but living under the threat or reality of continued litigation is expensive and uncertain and can stand in the way of a track's getting financing, support from local officials, etc. etc.

It's the American Way!

Thanks for the clarification Michael! I can see the way that tracks can get weaseled out of existence and it's depressing.

I heard that Road Atlanta dodged a bullet last year when the town or county fathers did NOT approve of a land development that was proposed for nearby real estate. They saw that it would only create conflict and did not give approvals.

Bill Scott at Summit Point apparently went through a long procedure getting approval for the Shenandoah circuit which opened last year. There is one house built right at the end of the Karrussel and I think if someone went over the edge the car would be launched into the living room.

Oh well....

There is a website with closed race tracks on it....depressing.

Complaints from "new" neighbors is the same deal with little airports.

I think we're losing one airport a day in the USA.

A little grass strip near me is holding it's own, but I'm not sure it'll be around in 10 years.

I'd like to live *next* to an airport (or a road race track).

But, some Good News! We're getting a new track in a rural area of south Jersey. I talked to the manager last week...very exciting for me. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif

We fight a constant battle over our Waterford Hills track. It will celebrate its 50th anniversary next season, and for the last few years the screaming about the noise just gets louder. We put up a $200,000 sound abatement wall, and restrict noise to 75db at the property line, and still get complaints.
There is one neighbor that was there when the track was built, and he complains the loudest. We put the sound meter on his lawn mower last year, and had him at 94db at our property line. Didn't bother to file a complaint, though!
Jeff

Bugeye58 said:

We fight a constant battle over our Waterford Hills track. It will celebrate its 50th anniversary next season, and for the last few years the screaming about the noise just gets louder. We put up a $200,000 sound abatement wall, and restrict noise to 75db at the property line, and still get complaints.
There is one neighbor that was there when the track was built, and he complains the loudest. We put the sound meter on his lawn mower last year, and had him at 94db at our property line. Didn't bother to file a complaint, though!
Jeff

Click to expand...

Well, maybe you should have done.......may shut him up! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

DrEntropy said:

Ooh! Can I come too?!? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

Click to expand...

Let me ask my friend Jeff Spicolli."Dude".

- Doug