MADISON — Dozens of town residents urged state transportation officials Monday to pump the brakes on their plans to turn an intersection that ranks as one of Maine’s most dangerous into an all-way stop.

And while Maine Department of Transportation staff members said they would take the feedback to Augusta, they told residents the proposed all-way stop at the intersection of Route 148, Ward Hill Road and Old County Road in Madison is the safest and most cost-effective solution.

About 50 people gathered at the Main Street Middle School auditorium for a public information session with Maine DOT about its plans.

Welcoming public comments at the start, the DOT officials only scratched the surface on a lengthy presentation they prepared for the hourlong session, as the select board needed the space for a scheduled meeting and public hearing. Town Manager Denise Ducharme invited DOT to return in the future to finish the presentation.

It was unclear Monday if that would happen or when it would be, although a lively discussion between residents and DOT staff ensued in the lobby area outside the auditorium following the meeting.

DOT officials also said people can contact them directly.

“We recognize that we have what we, as professional engineers, feel is the right solution, but we’re certainly open to hearing other suggestions and concerns,” said Bob Skehan, director of DOT’s Office of Safety and Mobility.

Residents who spoke at Monday’s meeting largely agreed that something needs to be done at the intersection, which the DOT ranks as 19th out of about 32,000 in the state for potential fatal and serious injury crashes.

But their concerns included the challenge of stopping loaded trucks on the hill in the area of the intersection and potentially impatient drivers who will not want to stop on Route 148.

They suggested other, less drastic improvements, like installing overhead blinking lights, reducing the speed limit in the area, taking down trees to improve visibility and realigning the intersection to make turns closer to 90 degrees. Road Commissioner Jeffrey Wright was among those urging the state to consider alternatives.

Skehan said that while engineers continue to recommend the current proposal of an all-way stop, the initial analysis did not consider some of the possibilities, like removing trees. Staff will now consider those ideas before moving ahead, he said.

He said the power to make the ultimate decision about the intersection design rests with DOT Chief Engineer William Pulver and acting Commissioner Dale Doughty. The commissioner was “very interested” in hearing the results of Monday’s session but was unable to attend, according to Skehan.

The DOT’s plans, set to be implemented this summer, call for the intersection of Route 148, Ward Hill Road and Old County Road to become an all-way stop. In the current design, only cross-traffic coming off Ward Hill Road and Old County Road is supposed to stop.

The DOT also plans to implement traffic-calming measures in the area, including flashing “stop ahead” and stop signs, pavement markings, speed feedback signs, speed reduction signs from 50 mph to 35 mph, overhead flashing beacons and vertical delineators.

The intersection in question does not have particularly complicated geometry, but poor sight lines and less-than-deal approaches from the two local roads seem to be responsible for some of the problems.

Traffic coming off Ward Hill Road and Old County Road has been known to blow through the existing stop signs. And traffic coming off those roads that does stop is met with oncoming vehicles on Route 148 that can be difficult to see and are often traveling at high speeds.

Currently, traffic in both directions on Route 148, known as White School House Road on the east side of the intersection and Main Street on the west, has the right of way and does not stop. The speed limit on that section is 50 mph.

Old County Road enters the intersection on the north side, and Ward Hill Road enters on the south side. They are essentially in line with each other, forming an X shape with Route 148. Technically, the speed limit on those roads defaults to 45 mph under state statute, because it is not posted otherwise, DOT staff said.

Approaching the intersection heading south on Old County Road, the road turns left just before the intersection, potentially making it a sudden surprise to drivers unfamiliar with the area. Several signs, some with blinking lights, along the curve warn of the upcoming stop sign.

On the other side of the intersection, traffic approaching the intersection from Ward Hill Road goes down a hill before the road levels out a few hundred feet before the intersection. That road has similar signs — even more than on Old County Road — warning of the stop sign and dangerousness of the intersection.

Once a vehicle is stopped, from both Ward Hill Road and Old County Road, it can be difficult to see approaching eastbound traffic on Route 148. Just to the west of the intersection, the highway climbs a steep hill and turns.

Looking east from either of the two roads, westbound traffic is visible at a greater distance as it comes down a hill. But the view of that traffic can be blocked momentarily by a smaller crest and dip in between that hill and the intersection.

Motorists approaching from both directions on Route 148 are warned of the intersection by signs with blinking lights.

From 2016 to 2025, there were 33 crashes at the intersection, according to state data. Of those, 82% were “angle crashes,” such as T-bone crashes, and 70% resulted in injuries. In 2025, 80% of crashes at the intersection resulted in serious injury.

Since 2004, DOT has considered the intersection a “high crash location” eight times.

Dennis Emidy, state highway safety engineer, said Monday that an all-way stop would bring the most safety benefits and be the most cost-effective option.

The DOT has about 140 all-way stops on its roads across the state, and there have been zero fatalities at those intersections since 2003, when DOT started keeping digital records, Emidy said. 

Where DOT has implemented new all-way stops, they have resulted in a 66% reduction in crashes and 78% reduction in crashes with injuries, he said.

Emidy pointed to similar intersection in Jay, the crossing of routes 133 and 156, where DOT installed an all-way stop in 2024. That intersection is similar both in traffic volume and has a steeper hill nearby than the one on Route 148.

Showing a figure of crash data before and after the changes, Emidy acknowledged the all-way stop has resulted in some rear-end collisions. But he said it drastically reduced angle crashes, which are statistically much more likely to result in serious injuries. 

As for other possible designs in Madison, Emidy said DOT considered a traffic light at the intersection, but it did not meet any of the warrants under national standards. DOT also considered a roundabout, but Emidy said it would not be cost-effective and there were no federal funds available.

As for the idea of overhead blinking yellow lights for Route 148 and blinking red lights for Ward Hill Road and Old County Road, Emidy said those have been found to only reduce crashes by 5%.

Some residents also suggested implementing flashing signs that indicate whether there are oncoming vehicles. Such signs are in place just down the road at the similarly-shaped intersection of Route 148, Russell Road and Blackwell Hill Road.

Emidy said those signs, technically called intersection control warning systems, do not reduce crashes and the state is in the process of removing them from its intersections.

“They just don’t work,” he said, met with grumbling from many in the audience that he was wrong.