Rumble strips to be installed on Rte. 3

By next November, most of Route 3 through China should be a bit noisier – and a lot safer.

Stephen Bodge, of the Maine Department of Transportation, spoke with China selectmen at their March 6 meeting about the plan to install center-line rumble strips in the heavily-traveled road in late September or October.

The installation is part of a state-wide project aimed at reducing head-on collisions. Rumble strips pay off, Bodge said; Maine has been adding them for 11 years, and studies comparing the 10 years before and after a road is treated show that head-on collisions decrease by 40 percent and fatalities resulting from head-on collisions decrease by 90 percent.

The only complaints the department receives have been about noise, Bodge said. Procedures to minimize the problem include leaving gaps at intersections, in passing zones and in front of hotels, motels, campgrounds and anywhere else “where people pay to sleep.”