Town erects new stop sign at Main, Military street corner

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — Changes in traffic flow are often difficult for motorists to recognize. That is precisely why the town of Houlton has gone to extra care to make sure drivers know of a new stop sign erected at one of the town’s busier intersections.
    A new stop sign has been placed on the corner of Main and Military streets near the newly opened County Yankee grocery store. Previously, a yield sign was located at the intersection. Also, motorists traveling East on Main Street will now be required to make a left hand turn onto Military, as opposed to previously driving straight through.
    Orange safety cones currently require vehicles to curl to the right, creating a “t-intersection.” Leigh Stillwell, Houlton’s public works director, said curbing or a new island may be created in the future to provide more permanency at the intersection.
Houlton Pioneer Times photo/Joseph Cyr
NEW TRAFFIC STOP — A stop sign has replaced the long-standing yield sign at the intersection of Maine and Military streets. Drivers heading east on Main Street must now come to a complete stop and make a left-hand turn to continue heading east.
    According to James McGinnis, Maine DOT northern region traffic engineer, a change at the intersection was a direct result of the new grocery store opening at the corner of Military Street and Hillview Avenue.
    “We presented the idea of having the easterly driveway as an out only and the westerly driveway as an in only,” McGinnis said. “This would have minimized conflicts in the lot and too many places to go in one small area.”
    People exiting County Yankee on the Military Street egress will not be allowed to turn onto Main Street. Rubber traffic cones and a temporary stop sign currently mark the area, but a more permanent sign will be erected in the near future.
    “Any development like this (County Yankee) that generates more than 100 vehicle trips in a peak hour have to get a ‘traffic movement permit’ from MDOT so we can address any traffic issues,” McGinnis said.
    Police will monitor the intersection and will issue warnings for the first few weeks, according to Houlton Police Chief Butch Asselin.
     “The exception will be if the violation is blatant,” he added. “This change should actually make the intersection movement safer because the yield sign has been replaced with a stop sign. Sight visibility will also be improved. Rather than having to twist their head around to the right and peering over their shoulder, drivers are now provided an opportunity to calmly look either left or right on Military Street before proceeding. Drivers can also see what vehicles are exiting County Yankee. If County Yankee is their destination, the entrance is directly ahead of them.”
    According to the chief, one proposal that did not pan out was closing Main Street to eastbound traffic from the Burleigh Street intersection. Traffic would have been one-way from Military Street, west to Burleigh Street.
    McGinnis said there were no plans for a traffic light at this particular intersection because the number of vehicle trips did not warrant one.
    “A traffic light is still a possibility should the intersection ever become a high-crash area,” cautioned Asselin. “Drivers exiting Willard Street should drive straight out and then turn onto Military Street rather than cutting diagonally across towards Main Street. Drivers exiting Main or Willard Street should look for traffic exiting County Yankee, particularly during the late afternoon hours and weekends.”
    Asselin said, for him, the new traffic flow simply makes the most sense.
    “As a public safety official, I could never understand why a yield sign was placed at that end of Main Street anyway,” he said. “It seemed to defy logic and became a safety concern of mine. You don’t place yield signs at what amounts to a ‘T’ intersection. MDOT was approached, but crash data didn’t support a change of signage. MDOT has to be involved in the process because Main Street intersects with U.S. Route 2 (Military Street), which is part of the national highway system.”