SUMNER – A sharp curve on the Bonney Road in Sumner has been improved, but it remains to be seen whether residents will be happy about it.

Road Commissioner Jim Keach reported to selectmen Monday that he has placed a stop sign on the curve, where Trenowith Road meets Bonney Road.

A “stop ahead” sign warns drivers about the upcoming stop sign, and 37 feet of newly installed guardrail will keep drivers who fail to negotiate the curve from damaging the property next to the road.

Selectman Cliff McNeil said the goal “is to make the corner a safer corner for pedestrians and the folks who live in the home on the corner.”

When selectmen decided in April to undertake the project, in response to complaints from property owners near the curve, secretary Cynthia Norton reported she had received phone calls from residents who were unhappy with the plan.

Keach said he had received a mixed response from Bonney Road residents when he put up the sign. While one property owner was very happy to see traffic slowing down, another was not pleased with the placement of a stop sign on her lawn.

Keach is not finished with the project, which he began early last week. He still needs to shim the roads to bring the ends of the guardrails to a safer height.

Selectman Tom Standard recommended that the town look into using calcium chloride instead of salt on dirt roads in the town.

“It’s supposed to hold down dust. All that dust is what holds the road together. It’s money out of our pocket every time the dust blows in on some lady’s laundry.”

We have used it before,” said Selectman Mark Silber, “and it’s a temporary fix. I’m not sure in the long run that it does much more than not putting it on.”

Selectmen agreed to find out more about what the savings would be to the town if it switched to calcium chloride for dirt roads in winter. The state recommends its use, and uses it on the turnpike, Standard said.