Work is beginning this week to revamp a dangerous intersection in Arundel that has confused motorists and resulted in numerous accidents for more than two decades.
On Tuesday, crews from Shaw Brothers Construction Inc. of Gorham will begin realigning the intersection of Route 111, New Road and Old Alfred Road in Arundel near the town line with Biddeford. The $4.2 million project is expected to make it easier to access Route 111 for drivers on New Road and rework Old Alfred Road to connect to New Road instead of Route 111.
Through the years, this intersection has witnessed dozens of crashes involving motorists exiting or entering Route 111 from Old Alfred Road and New Road. Since 2012 alone, public safety officers have responded to more than 15 accidents at the New Road/Route 111 intersection, prompting the Maine Department of Transportation to include the road work in its plan to enhance safety along the busy Route 111 corridor, which runs from Biddeford to Sanford.
Department of Transportation officials say that the volume of traffic traveling on Route 111 between Biddeford and Sanford continues to increase, with more than 17,000 cars traveling west and more than 19,000 traveling east on average each day. And those figures are expected to rise by 2,000 more vehicles in the next six years.
In 2003, the department conducted a comprehensive traffic survey of the entire Route 111 stretch of highway and identified high crash rates, attributed to drivers following too closely or passing cars in an unsafe manner, and suggested adding turning lanes when possible.
In announcing legislative funding for the project last year, Sen. Susan Deschambault of Biddeford said making Route 111 safer is meaningful and significant progress for the area and the state.
“Well-maintained transportation infrastructure is vital for people to get to school, to work, and in conducting every other part of their lives,” Deschambault said. “I’m glad to see that the Maine Department of Transportation will be conducting this important work over the next few years.”
The convergence of New Road and Old Alfred Road at the intersection with Route 111 is the major factor producing crashes at the intersection, Department of Transportation officials say. With New Road running one way, Old Alfred another and traffic headed both east and west on Route 111, motorists must maneuver through an odd K-shaped pattern leading to a lack of visibility and causing right-of-way confusion.
To resolve the issue, the department has commissioned the contractor to widen the southbound shoulder of New Road to allow for bypassing vehicles turning left onto Old Alfred Road. Work also will be performed to mark the center lane of Route 111 as a left-turn-only lane and a truck-climbing lane will be installed for vehicles going up the hill in that stretch of road, less than a half-mile from the Biddeford city line.
The rerouting of Old Alfred Road will necessitate moving the parking lot of an auto repair shop, but the Department of Transportation plan stops short of adding a stop light on Route 111 at the intersection with New Road. Also included in the department’s three-year plan is paving Route 111 for 10 miles west starting at the Biddeford city line through Lyman and Alfred, also the sites of numerous Route 111 accidents.
On Tuesday morning, the work zone for the project will begin near Drew Mills Road and extend east for about a mile.
“To mitigate impacts to travelers, two-way traffic will be maintained during the day,” Deputy of Transportation Commissioner Nina Fisher said in a statement. “Milling and paving will likely be scheduled for night work, which will include lane closure to one-lane, with alternating traffic.”
Fisher said that all work on the project is expected to wrap up by Oct. 31.
Ed Pierce can be contacted at 282-1535 or at:
editor@journaltribune.com
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