New
yield sign installed at Gray intersection
By Elizabeth Prata
Gray-The more Rep. Susan Austin saw daily stand-offs
at the junction of Shaker Road and Brown Street, the
more it concerned her. The Gray intersection is a
Level F, or failed, intersection, and known state-wide
as one of the busiest and most confusing in Maine.
Five state routes converge on the small and narrow
crossroads. Just 200 feet down the road, Maine Turnpike
Exit 63 also off-loads thousands of vehicles per day.
"I saw people taking a left turn on the green
light through oncoming traffic. The awkwardness of
the intersection's size and shape caused confusion
as to whose right it was to turn. There were so many
near misses that it concerned me, "Austin said.
Austin called Region 1 Traffic Engineer Randy Dunton
of the Maine Department of Transportation and related
her concerns.
Photo, The intersection from a few hundred feet above.
The Monument office is at lower left, McDonald's is
at lower right. The Civil War Monument statue is center.
Brown Street runs between The Monument Newspaper and
McDonald's, passes the civil war monument, and where
the intersection is widest is now where the yield
on green sign is hung. The road extends west past
the large white building on the right, Stimson Hall,
and is now called Shaker Road.
Dunton agreed. "If it is a reasonable request
we go out and take a look and we do our best to accommodate,"
he said. Austin had requested a sign on both sides
of the intersection, heading east and west from Route
26/Shaker Road.
"We could not install a sign above the intersection
for motorists heading east from Rt. 26 toward Yarmouth.
There were already too many other signs, such as lane
use and signals. We couldn't install another without
blocking one of them. But we did accommodate the request
for the motorists heading west through the intersection,"
Dunton said.
Both Rep. Austin and Traffic Engineer Dunton hope
that the sign installation will help lessen the confusion
as motorists travel to and through Gray.
Gray
Corner through the years
In
1860 the population of Gray was 1,768. The crossroads
are already established, and there is a directional
sign in the middle of the photo. There are two
hitched horses in front of the harness shop
at upper left. Gray was a great trade center
and the corner was busy with travelers from
as far away as Vermont, many of them on their
way to Portland. The in-demand items of the
day were hay, grain, food, lodging.
Photo courtesy of "Images of America: Gray,
Maine" by Louise Knapp and the Gray Historical
Society
In
1980, circa this photo, the population was 4,344.
There is now a blinking light just out of camera
shot to manage the traffic. Telephone poles
line the road, gas stations and restaurants
now provide the still in-demand fuel, food,
and lodging.
Photo courtesy of "Images of America: Gray,
Maine" by Louise Knapp and the Gray Historical
Society
In
2004, the population of Gray is about 7,000.
Many more signs, traffic lights, and vehicles
of all kinds travel through the intersection
daily.
