ARUNDEL  — Help is on the way this week for 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 from 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 has 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.

MDOT officials say that the volume of traffic traveling along Route 111 between Biddeford and Sanford continues to has 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 MDOT conducted a comprehensive traffic survey of the entire Route 111 stretch of highway and results identified high crash rates, attributed to drivers following too closely or passing cars in an unsafe manner along the road and suggested adding turning lanes when possible.

In announcing legislative funding for the project last year, State 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,” said Sen. Deschambault. “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, MDOT 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, MDOT has commissioned the contractor to widen the southbound shoulder of New Road to allow for the bypassing of vehicles turning left onto Old Alfred Road. Work will also 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 roadway, 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 MDOT plan stops short of adding a stop light on Route 111 at the intersection with New Road.

Also included in the MDOT’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 new 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,” said Nina Fisher, MDOT deputy commissioner, in a press release. “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.

— Executive Editor Ed Pierce can be reached at 282-1535 or by email at [email protected]