PIERMONT — State transportation officials are seeking public input into plans for the four corners intersection between NH Route 10, NH Route 25 and Route 25C.
The Board of Selectmen will hold an information session next month to hear from residents and to discuss safety concerns and possible countermeasures.
One possibility for the intersection is changing it to an all-way stop.
Currently, it’s a two-way stop, with no stop signs on Route 10 at the intersection.
“We’ve received a lot of complaints about that intersection,” Piermont Chief of Police Brandon Alling said in a Friday phone interview.
There have been 10 crashes over the past three and a half years, Alling said, none being fatal.
The intersection faces limited visibility from all four sides due to obstacles such as overgrown vegetation and political signs, Bill Lambert, a highway safety administrator for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, or DOT, said in a phone interview last week.
Vision can also be blocked by vehicles leaving the Four Corners General Store on the northeast corner of the intersection.
To address these concerns, the speed limit was reduced to 30 mph in 2005, Lambert said. Signs have also been added, stating “Cross traffic does not stop.”
Possible counter measures for the intersection could include stop sign enhancements such as attaching flashing lights or additional stop signs for Route 25 and Route 25C.
Other options include traffic lights or a roundabout, which would require more time and money, according to materials Lambert prepared for the meeting.
Following recent highway safety studies, Lambert favors all-way stop control, which requires drivers from all four directions to stop.
“In the last two years, we’ve found evidence from other states (…) that changing a two-way stop to an all-way stop has significant safety benefits,” Lambert said.
Changing two-way stops to all-way stops decreased total crashes by nearly 50% in Delaware and almost 70% in North Carolina, according to reports from those states’ respective departments of transportation.
The downsides to all-way stops include a new delay for traffic, short-term reeducation for longtime drivers and the general resistance to inconvenience and change.
If there is local support for an all-way stop, the project could have a faster implementation through DOT resources meaning it could be completed in a couple months, Corey Spetelunas, a DOT highway safety project manager, said in a Wednesday phone interview.
Beyond the fact that an all-way stop only requires putting up stop signs and painting lines on the ground, alternatives such as traffic lights can take over 10 years to even begin planning, depending on regional priority, Spetelunas said.
Implementing an all-way stop would cost about $2,000, Spetelunas said.
Regardless of the type of project chosen for the intersection, the town will incur no cost as the project is entirely DOT-funded.
The meeting is scheduled to be held on Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Old Church Building at 131 Route 10, just south of the intersection.