East End residents are angry over a delay in the reconstruction of a busy traffic circle that they say is critical to the revitalization of their community.

The Riverside traffic circle is located in Southampton just south of the Peconic River. The facelift would increase traffic capacity, decrease the amount of traffic jams and make way for community-revitalization funds.

Suffolk County now says that it has a shortage of manpower in the Department of Public Works, and that the job would not be able to start until 2018. It also places blame on budget constraints.

Southampton leaders say the traffic circle improvements are a critical component of redevelopment in Riverside. They say that $4 million in upgrades were approved last year by the state and Southampton voters.

The upgrades include widening the circle to an oval shape with two lanes - instead of one - to ease traffic congestion, in addition to ensuring that there are four points of entry instead of five.

Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst says she plans to meet next week with the county executive's office to try to convince them to not further delay the project.