Falmouth residents will get their final say on plans for the town’s first roundabout, to be built at the intersections of Route 9, Woods Road and Middle Road.

The Maine Department of Transportation will present the final design at a public meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. on March 16 at Falmouth Town Hall.

Ernest Martin, senior project manager for the DOT, said construction of the roundabout is planned for 2017.

With 10 accidents between 2010 and 2012, the intersection is considered to have a high crash rate.

Because of that, federal highway safety funds will pay for 90 percent of the $2.1 million project. The state will cover the rest.

Roundabouts have been cropping up at intersections around the state in recent years.

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Unlike rotaries, which are large and meant to keep traffic moving quickly, roundabouts are small and meant to slow down cars.

While rotaries have long fallen out of favor because they’re considered dangerous, roundabouts have become an increasingly popular way to improve safety at intersections, partly because they make it nearly impossible for cars to T-bone.

Although constructing the 150-foot-wide, single lane roundabout in Falmouth will require some land acquisitions, Martin said, no residents will have to relocate.

Neighbors reached Friday said they didn’t know much about the project and didn’t see the need for it, but also weren’t opposed.

“As far as I’m concerned, everything that’s laid out works fine the way it is,” said Stephen Mercer, 74, who has lived on Middle Road for about 30 years.

In some communities, plans to install roundabouts have gotten backlash from residents who worry that they’ll create confusion for drivers.

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Town Councilor Caleb Hemphill said he hasn’t heard anything like that from residents of Falmouth.

“I’m sure it will take some getting used to,” said Hemphill, who uses the intersection every day.

He said the area where three roads comes together is often busy and can create challenges for drivers.

“I think this will be a good solution,” he said.

Martin said there was no opposition to the project when the DOT held an initial public meeting on it in 2014. The only concern raised was about traffic stopped at a light on Bucknam Road that backs up on Middle Road to the intersection.

Martin said the stoplight’s signal cycle will be studied and, if need be, adjusted, so that traffic won’t back up into the roundabout.

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The roundabout will have four exits – two onto Route 9 going either direction, one onto Woods Road and the other onto Middle Road, which will be disconnected from Route 9 and turned into a dead-end street.

Martin said the changes will improve mobility and safety through the intersection, which is traversed by about 9,000 cars a day.

The potential for another roundabout in Falmouth was announced last month as part of a plan to redevelop 11 acres on Route 1 and, in the process, replace an overpass and ramp leading to the Maine Turnpike with a ground-level intersection.

 


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