NEW GLOUCESTER — Centerline rumble strips will be installed this summer on Routes 202 and 26 to lower the number of deadly head-on crashes, a Maine Department of Transportation official told selectmen Monday.

Denis Lovely, a senior project manager for MDOT, said the three areas are:

• Route 202 from Foster Hill Road in Gray to south of Intervale and Bald Hill roads in New Gloucester, a distance of 5¾ miles;

• Route 202 from Gilmore Road in New Gloucester to Kitty Hawk Avenue in Auburn, a distance of 2½ miles; and

• Route 26 from the Maine Wildlife Park in Gray to Sabbathday Lake Road in New Gloucester, a distance of 1 mile.

Lovely said that in the past 10 years, over 8,000 head-on crashes in Maine resulted in 355 fatalities and over 1,100 serious injuries.  

“We see a 40 percent reduction and 90 percent reductions of fatalities (with centerline rumble strips),” he said.

The strips will skip motels, hotels, campgrounds and heavily used driveways.

In other business Monday, Greg J. Chabot, audit director for RHR Smith & Co., reviewed the annual town audit completed last summer. He said the undesignated fund balance is 25 percent of the total budget and is considered appropriate. 

New Gloucester’s credit rating, based on Moody’s Investment Service, is high at Aa3, equivalent to the median rating for cities nationwide. Key factors include a very strong financial position, negligible debt and pension liabilities, and a strong socioeconomic profile with a limited tax base.  

In other business, three requests for proposals by sealed bid were approved. They are:

• Replacing the Morse Road culvert, a project funded partially by a $95,000 grant from the state;

• Installing a playground at the New Gloucester Fairgrounds on Bald Hill Road; and

• Installing a pavilion at the fairgrounds.

Peter Bragdon was appointed to the inactive Community Fair Committee and Michael Fralich was appointed to a three-year term on the Parks and Recreation Committee.