WILTON — Work to make the intersection at Route 156 and Routes 2 and 4 safer is expected to begin in July, according to plans presented to the Board of Selectpersons on Tuesday.

Rhobe Moulton, project manager for the Maine Department of Transportation, told the board the project goes out to bid in May and is expected to be completed by the fall.

Raised traffic islands will extend farther from the intersection, she said. Each turning lane onto Route 156 from Routes 2 and 4 will narrow slightly, giving the effect of narrowing the intersection, which will calm traffic, she said.

Paved shoulders on three of four corners will be enlarged.

MDOT responded to residents’ ideas and concerns at a public hearing in October 2013 after solutions, including an overpass and roundabout, were presented. Lower speed through the intersection, new warning lights and more signs were improvements they wanted to see in the near future.

A flashing light has been installed but lowering the speed limit is a decision made by Maine State Police and MDOT, an MDOT manager said at the time.

MDOT managers at that meeting agreed that speed, driver inattention and multiple turns within the intersection, with hills on each side, presented a challenging situation.

Residents’ concerns about left turns from Routes 2 and 4 onto either side of Route 156 caused MDOT to go back and reconfigure lanes as presented Tuesday.

abryant@sunmediagroup.net


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