FARMINGTON – A pedestrian accident that injured a University of Maine student in April prompted the school and town to analyze the safety of crosswalks around campus.
Tuesday found Mitch Boulette, director of public works, in the streets of Farmington with a four-man crew installing vinyl-like stripes where painted ones once denoted crosswalks on Main and High streets. The new high-tech stripes, glued into place, are touted by 3M, the manufacturer, to be abrasion-resistant, plow-proof and able to last at least five years.
Boulette is skeptical but hopeful.
If the claims are true, Boulette’s crew could be saved from repainting the stripes each spring after salt, chemicals and abrasion wear them to near nonexistence.
The materials, costing about $4,900, were purchased by the university in an effort to make crosswalks more visible and, thereby, safer.
The university also spent approximately $17,000 for new and brighter pedestrian crossing signs and a solar-powered flashing light installed at the busiest crossing on Main Street near Scott Hall. The pedestrian-activated light flashes rapidly to alert oncoming traffic to walkers.
After the accident last spring, university administrators asked students, the Maine Department of Transportation, the town and a private traffic consultant for suggestions to make students less vulnerable to similar incidents. The result is 14 newly refurbished crosswalks and reconfiguration of their placement. Several walkways on Main and High streets were eliminated to help with traffic flow and one was added on Main Street at the south end of the campus to make crossing more convenient and safer for students.
In addition, several new street lights are being installed to more brightly illuminate the two major arteries.
The students had good ideas, said Tom Donaghue, director of public information at UMF, though some were not economically viable or realistic.
Specifically, students had suggested an overhead crossing, but the cost to construct one high enough to accommodate logging trucks and be handicapped accessible was prohibitive, he said.
Dennis Pike, selectman and Franklin County sheriff, said that although there will be fewer stops along Main Street, it will do little for the convenience of motorists. He feels, though, it will be safer for the more vulnerable travelers along the road. The changes made “were right on the mark” given the university’s resources, he said.
“This is not a final solution, but it is safer for now,” he said.
Jennifer Morton, a UMF sophomore, said Tuesday after crossing Main Street at Scott Hall that she rarely goes across to Scott Hall. She said it was “sort of a pain” having fewer crosswalks on Main Street.
“But if it’s going to be safer, then it’s a good thing,” she added.
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