DIXFIELD — The ATV trail crossing at Aunt Hannah Bridge on Route 142 is officially closed, police Chief Richard Pickett said.

The ATV crossing was closed due to safety concerns, Pickett said.

The safety issue involving the bridge and ATVs was recently re-visited when a Dixfield resident brought lengthy video footage of ATVs at the crossing to Pickett. The ATV crossing is made more perilous by the limited visibility vehicles  have on the southern approach to the bridge and the high rate of speed many travel along that route.

“It is a serious accident waiting to happen,” Pickett said at Monday’s Dixfield Board of Selectmen meeting.

Pickett said on Tuesday that he had spoken with the Maine Department of Transportation and that signs will soon be in place.

In other police news, Pickett announced that $1,000 in grant money, part of a $20,000. Maine State Substance Abuse grant obtained by Rumford’s River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition, would be applied to limiting under-age consumption of alcoholic beverages in Dixfield.

“This grant money will allow the department to step up its efforts to reduce the amount of underage drinking in Dixfield,” Pickett said at Monday’s selectmen meeting.

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