MDOT hires designer for Washington Street signal; Auburn presses for interim speed controls and enforcement

Assistant City Manager Dute told the Auburn City Council on June 16 that the Maine Department of Transportation has contracted a designer and held a kickoff meeting to develop plans for a traffic signal at the Washington Street and Beech Hill Road (Danville Corner) intersection.

The signal design is now in a survey phase, Dute said, and the overall timeline from kickoff to installation is about 18 months to two years. “They signed the contract with the contractor to design and implement this. Today was the kickoff meeting,” Dute said.

Why it matters: the intersection has been designated by Maine DOT as a high-crash location, with a critical rate factor of 2.79 and eight accidents over a three-year period—criteria that qualified it for DOT attention, according to Dute. City officials said the intersection also poses a higher probability of serious injury or fatality than many other local locations.

City staff describ…