Lebanon residents will get say in rumble strips

LEBANON - While it is the state’s plan to install rumble strips along Route 202 in Lebanon, a state Department of Transportation spokesman said the town does have input in the decision and he would expect selectmen would be holding public hearings to measure residents’ support for the measure.

Rumble strips have occasionally proved to be controversial in that they do emit a sound that can reverberate through a quiet neighborhood, especially at night when daytime ambient noise diminishes.

However, Ted Talbot of the state DOT said he has never heard of a state rumble strip project being rejected by a local town. In some of the state releases on rumble strip effectiveness it notes, “The sound of a rumble strip could be the sound of a life being saved.”

Talbot noted that rumble strips could be the single most effective tool in reducing highway deaths. (See “Top Story” of Sept. 11).

Rumble strips are usually not installed near intersections, in heavily residential areas and in stretches of road where the speed limit is less than 45 mph, Talbot noted.

Plans for next summer call for eight miles of center line rumble strips along an 8.4 mile highway paving project along Route 202, which is also known as Carl Broggi Highway.

Note: When reading bottom chart, years from top to bottom reflect same as top chart, from 2003 to 20013, with bottom line being total of crashes in that category. Crashes reflect all those along Route 202 in Lebanon, from Sanford line to East Rochester.