PARIS – A four-way stop intersection will be created at Charles and Gary streets, selectmen decided Monday.

As recommended by Police Chief David Verrier, the four-way stop will slow traffic down and make the corner safer for pedestrians.

Verrier said students headed to the Don Gouin Athletic Field from Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School are encouraged to use Charles Street, instead of the busier Alpine Street. With no stop sign at Gary Street, drivers on the street have no warning to watch out for pedestrians, he said.

Drivers are known to use Gary Street as a bypass around Route 26, said Verrier, and neighbors in the area say vehicles often exceed the 25 mile an hour speed limit.

“The neighbors are real concerned about the speed,” Verrier said.

He noted that there have been five accidents at the corner since 2000, two of them involving personal injury. The causes have been a combination of speed and driver inattention.

Verrier said members of the Police Department will watch the intersection closely in the first month after the four-way stop signs have been put in place. Warnings will be given at first, “until people get used to it,” Verrier said. After that, summonses will be issued, he added.

Verrier noted that a skate park for young people is going to be constructed soon on Charles Street, increasing the amount of pedestrian traffic in the area.

In other action, selectmen agreed to discontinue a portion of the Dean Road, appoint consulting forester Jeffrey Meserve as the tree warden, and appointed Al Dignan to the Old Fire Station Committee.

They also approved an installment contract to allow a former owner of property on Reservoir Road to pay both back and current taxes and take the land out of foreclosure.

ggeraghty@sunjournal.com