 sailplane soaring over Sugarbush's Lincoln Peak, before the recent snow. Photo: Sandy Macys |
By Lisa Loomis
Gerald Maynard has informed members of the Mad River Ridge Runners that his lands will be closed for snowmobiling and other recreational purposes in order to pressure the Vermont Agency of Transportation to make changes to the Route 100/Route 100B intersection signage.
Maynard, with his wife Wilma, owns the Camel's Hump Bed and Breakfast as well as Maynard's Snack Bar on Route 100B just past the intersection with Route 100.
Maynard said he has been trying to get the signage immediately past the Church of the Crucified One (on the east side of Route 100) changed so that Route 100 and Stowe/Waterbury are more prominent.
CAN'T MAKE THE CORNER
"They need to put up signs earlier that identify the left coming up for Stowe and Waterbury. People are coming through there at 50 miles an hour and can't make the corner," Gerald Maynard said.
He said that for years he has put up with people turning around in the driveway of the snack bar as well as the inn and said that it creates a dangerous traffic situation.
"We get 50 cars a day missing the turn," he said.
He said he has contacted VTrans and has also written a letter to Vermont Governor Jim Douglas whom he knows and to whom he personally delivered the letter. He said that the governor did not respond.
UNTIL DECEMBER 15
"So I told Doug Wilson from the Ridge Runners that we are closing our lands to them to get the public to pressure the state. They have until December 15," Maynard said.
"What we're asking for is very inexpensive, $500 to $600 at most for one sign. I want to be there when they talk about it. I also want to talk about having people slow down. The speed limit should be 35 miles an hour from the church to the intersection," he added.
Maynard said he had taken the issue of the speed limit to the select board but that it went nowhere.
NEXT SPRING
David Crossley, regional traffic investigator for VTrans, said he was aware of the Maynards' concerns and said that rearranging that signage was on a list of projects for this year that contractors could not get to. He said that it remained on the list for next spring and would be done.
"There was a sign project that was supposed to take place that would have re-arranged the signs and added a T intersection sign and underneath it an arrow that says Route 100 North so that, hopefully, people would be able to respond correctly," Crossley said.
He said the project would have added the T intersection sign and also moved the destination board and route marker signs closer to the intersection, rather than further away, which Maynard had suggested was needed.
STOP LOOKING
"If you warn people too far ahead, they stop looking for the intersection. A lot of our warning signs are moving closer," he added.
Crossley said the town does have the option of requesting that the speed limit be changed. Maynard said he thinks the speed limit should change at the church, where there is a church, a preschool and often other activities.
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