A fatal crash this week at Routes 108 and 140 in Canton – once considered one of the River Valley’s most dangerous intersections – must rekindle debate about safety at the town’s downtown crossroads.

On Tuesday, a 34-year-old Farmington woman, Ginger Harris, was killed when her car was struck while passing through the intersection. The last fatal crash that occurred there, in 2002, also struck the community’s raw nerve, which was fed up with the constant trouble at intersection.

The 2002 crash claimed the life of a 23-year-old Auburn man, David Martin, who was killed when a pulp truck collided with his pickup. That year, Canton Fire Chief Wayne Dube led the effort to have the Maine Department of Transportation make safety improvements to the intersection. Norm Haggan, the local MDOT manager, oversaw the installation of blinking yellow and red lights in 2004.

Dube and Haggan today say safety at the intersection has improved. On Thursday, Dube remarked there’s been barely a fender-bender at the intersection in two years until Tuesday’s crash, the circumstances of which closely match the conditions that led to the uproar in 2002.

Since 2002, traffic through the intersection has risen, likely due to an increase of tourist traffic heading toward destinations like Bethel or Sunday River in Newry. Truck traffic from the paper mills also remains constant, while the town’s school on Route 140 has closed, meaning fewer children crossing the street.

Though the improvements in 2004 seemed to have made the intersection safer, this latest crash and changing times merit giving it a fresh look. Canton has fought hard to make its town’s center as safe as possible for motorists, and shouldn’t view Tuesday’s tragedy as an aberration, but, instead, as an opportunity.