RUMFORD — Attention Maple Street speeders: The joyride is over.

Selectmen at Thursday night’s meeting agreed with Maple Street petitioners that stop signs are needed to stop drivers from using it as a speedy shortcut through the neighborhood between Lincoln and Maine avenues.

But whereas the 32 residents who signed the petition wanted only two stop signs, selectmen unanimously decided five are needed.

One selectman, Jolene Lovejoy, even apologized to the residents attending the meeting, admitting she was one of the violators.

Prior to admitting this, Lovejoy said, “It’s a very dangerous street” especially in the wintertime when snowbanks are piled high on either side and people park along both sides.

“It’s a disaster waiting to happen as is where you turn onto Maine Avenue,” Lovejoy said. “That’s also a disaster waiting to happen.”

Resident and petitioner Harry Powers told the board about two such potential disasters he witnessed recently.

The first involved two young girls riding skateboards who rode through an intersection into the middle of Maple Street. Had someone been coming, they wouldn’t have had time to slow down, he said, to avoid killing or injuring the children.

In the second incident, he said he saw two young women driving 40 mph down the street, and then saw a man behind them doing “at least 80 mph, trying to catch up to them.”

Powers said speeders know when police are monitoring speeds on the road and as soon as they leave, they resume speeding.

Resident and petitioner Kirk Thurston wanted another 25 mph speed limit sign added, saying the one that’s there isn’t enough.

“As soon as people come off Lincoln Avenue, they put the pedal down,” he said. That’s why he wants a second speed limit sign erected between the 415 to 409 block on Maple Street.

However, Town Manager Carlo Puiia said the town doesn’t have enough funds to place speed limit signs in every neighborhood.

Selectman Jeremy Volkernick said he drove through the area on Tuesday to see for himself what the problems are and how best to correct them.

Maple Street between Lincoln and Maine avenues is only 3/10ths of a mile, he said.

He suggested replacing the yield sign on Maple Street at Maine Avenue with a stop sign, making the lone speed limit sign at the corner of Maple Street and Oxford Avenue more visible, and investing in speed bumps instead of stop signs at Oxford and Essex avenues.

“It’s not that costly,” Volkernick said. “Stop signs are not going to stop speeding.”

Another resident and petitioner, who said he was a former policeman, disagreed with Volkernick. He said snowplows would tear up speed bumps.

“Stop signs slow down the speed,” he said. “You have to live there to understand the gravity of the problem. People zoom down that street even at 2 a.m.”

The man urged selectmen to get proactive and install stop signs to save lives.

Selectman Jeff Sterling then amended his motion for two stop signs to three.

After more discussion, it was amended to install five stop signs. Two will be for each direction on Maple Street at Essex and Oxford avenues and the fifth will replace the yield sign at the Maine Avenue intersection.

“Thank you for your concerns,” Selectmen Chairman Greg Buccina told petitioners. “You will get your stop signs.”

[email protected]