Vassalboro stanchions a state experiment

by Mary Grow

Until Nov. 1, East Vassalboro Village will be the site of an experiment aimed at slowing traffic. Aware that it could also make roads impassable for large farm equipment, town officials have provided what they hope will be a remedy.

Temporary PVC stanchions have been placed along roads’ white lines, and in places along the center double lines, on all sides of the four-way intersection in the village: Route 32 running north and south, Bog Road to the west and South Stanley Hill Road to the east. Maine Department of Transportation Engineers expect most vehicles obeying the speed limit to pass between them safely.

However, if farm equipment is more than 11-feet wide, its operator will need to find an alternate route or ask the town’s public works crew to move one or more stanchions. The public works department is open Mondays through Thursdays; crew members need three business days’ notice to move stanchions; the telephone number is 923-3985, and the email address is publicworks@vassalboro.net.

Town officials urge motorists not to run into or over the stanchions. The town will have to pay to replace any that get broken.

Residents with additional or alternative ideas for enforcing safe speeds are invited to submit them to the East Vassalboro Village Project Team, through an email to Town Manager Aaron Miller, amiller@vassalboro.net.