Road concerns occupy West Paris selectmen

WEST PARIS — Potholes and rough roads were on the minds of West Paris Road Foreman Bill Keach and selectmen during the March 24 board meeting. 

The roads are in bad shape after a cold winter, everyone agreed.

"You have a hard winter, it's going to be a rough spring," said Chairman Wade Rainey.

Keach said that a winter colder than the last two resulted in more frost heaves and potholes in the roads.

The issues are worse than in the past few years, but fairly normal for a winter in Maine, he said.

"It's like when you don't have a big snow storm for a while and then, when another one happens, you've forgotten how to drive in the conditions," said Town Manager John White.

Money allocated to the summer roads' budget during this month's town meeting should be sufficient to cover the costs of repairing the roads said White. In the meantime though, drivers will have to deal with conditions that may be worse than the last couple years.

"We haven't really had a bad winter in a while," said White, referring to the last two winters, which were abnormally mild.

In addition, selectmen agreed to contact the Maine Department of Transportation (DOT) to commission a speed limit study on Benson Hill Road.

White said that, though Benson Hill is in a rural location, it sees a fair amount of traffic because it connects the more densely-populated Tuell Town and Morse Hill Roads. Because there is no officially mandated speed limit, vehicles are allowed to pass at up to 45 mph.

Selectmen elected to contact the DOT following a letter sent by a concerned resident.

"In this short stretch live – aside from seven adults – four small children, two of whom are preschoolers and six dogs," reads the letter. "Vehicles passing at 45 mph makes for risky business and quite a few go by much faster than that."

The study will be conducted by a representative from the DOT, who will survey the area, taking into account the number of houses and residents, and measure traffic levels on the road. The information will be used to decide on an appropriate speed limit in line with statewide regulations.