MINOT – Old Woodman Hill Road residents don’t want their road dead-ended.

“The consensus is to keep the road open. Speeding on Minot Ave. is the problem,” said resident Bruce Sturgis.

These sentiments were echoed by all but perhaps three of the 35 residents who attended the selectman’s Monday night public hearing on whether to close the Minot Avenue end of Old Woodman Hill Road.

The road’s residents all agreed that the intersection was dangerous and several explained how they take it upon themselves to avoid trying to enter onto Minot Avenue when traffic flows run high.

“It’s the through-traffic, not the locals, that’s the problem, people cutting through to go to work and coming back up in the evening,” said Ken Hewitt.

Selectmen were holding the hearing in response to a report by Maine Department of Transportation traffic engineer Brian Keezer, who found the sight distances from the intersection looking west toward Mechanic Falls fell far short of recommended minimums given the speed of traffic on the road.

The viewing distance is 335 feet.

According to Keezer, most of the traffic that passes the intersection is going 48 mph and the minimum site distances at just 45 mph is 425 feet for passenger vehicles and 635 feet for larger vehicles.

Resident George Paiton took issue with the speed, arguing that, as the road is posted at 35 mph, the problem is with enforcement.

“The commuters are breaking the law and the residents of Old Woodman Hill Road are paying for their illegal actions,” said Paiton.

Paiton also noted that sight distances could be greatly increased if the state shaved just a foot or two off the banking that blocks the view.

“Dale Mclafferty was forced to sell his land to the state so they could clear his banking to make exiting the road easier. The state has cleared all the trees off his land and has left him with stumpage. It is unclear if the state is planning to follow through and shave off his land to increase visibility,” said Paiton.

Selectman George “Buster” Downing said he doubted the state had any such plans except for perhaps seeding the area.

“I grew up on that road. It appears that safety was left out of the equation when they (designed the improvements). They did what they could with the money they had,” said Downing.

Several residents complained that, if the town were to dead-end the road, it would cost a great deal of money to create a turnaround. The land has quite a slope and it would be quite complicated to get an area large enough to turn busses around in. “You don’t use an elephant gun to shoot at squirrels,” said Sturgis, who suggests the town could look for low-cost solutions that would address safety concerns and not break the bank.

Among the recommendations that residents came up with were: to cut back the banking in order to increase the site distance; put up traffic signs noting dangerous intersections in the area; install blinking yellow lights at two points in the Minot corner area; and make a concerted effort to enforce the speed limits.

Selectmen said they would take the residents’ advice and recommendations under consideration and that they would decide on a course of action at an upcoming regular selectmen’s meeting.