By Winslow Durgin,Special to the Sun Journal

MINOT – Posting Old Woodman Hill Road for local traffic only has not cured enough of the problem to suit all of the people living along the woodsy short cut connecting Minot Avenue – Route 11 – and Woodman Hill Road – Route 119.

Selectman Dan Callahan told the board this week that he had received complaints from two Old Woodman Hill residents.

“They focused on people going to Hemond’s Motocross Track. When you see big motor homes with Massachusetts plates and pickups hauling motorcycles, you have a pretty good idea where they are going,” Callahan said.

Callahan added that the residents suggested selectmen might ask Don Hemond to make announcements at the race track, making his customers aware of the posting and asking them to avoid using Old Woodman Hill Road.

“Don should not be held responsible; actually he cannot be held responsible, for what people going to his facility do, but maybe he can help out, as a consideration to the public,” Callahan said.

Selectman Steve French noted that the board has a long history dealing with traffic concerns on Old Woodman Hill Road and with a lengthy list of possible solutions to the problems of traffic rattling along the narrow rolling road.

One rejected remedy would close off the easterly end of Old Woodman Hill Road opposite the Minot Country Store, forcing local traffic to enter and exit off Woodman Hill Road. Another remedy allowed traffic to enter the easterly end of Old Woodman Hill Road but forbade traffic from exiting onto Minot Avenue.

The majority of Old Woodman Hill Road residents rejected those steps as too radical and convinced selectmen to post the road to allow local through traffic only.

Enforcing the posting, French pointed out, has proved extremely difficult. “Purely, local ordinances are not upheld by the sheriff’s office,” French said.

Callahan and French agreed that the least that should be done would be to make the traveling public aware of the posting.

Town Administrator Rhonda Irish said she would be meeting with Don and Serae Hemond within the week and would ask for their help.

Irish also announced that the site location permit seeking approval to further develop town owned land was submitted to the state Department of Environmental Protection last week.

Selectmen noted that the next planning board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 11, at the town office.

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