PERU — The Board of Selectmen is supporting a proposal by the Maine Department of Transportation to install a stop light at the four-way intersection at Route 108, Main and North Main streets.

At a public information meeting Sept. 16 at the Town Office, state highway safety engineer Dennis Emidy described the intersection as a high-crash location. There were 29 crashes there from 2013-2023, he said.

“A high-crash location is when you have eight or more crashes over a three-year period,” he said. The Peru intersection is “ranked second in the county and 113th in the state. There’s about a thousand high-crash locations in the state of Maine.”

On June 18, the department conducted a 24-hour traffic survey at the intersection, which is posted at 35 mph. The average speed was 38 mph, he said. However, the average speed coming south from Rumford on Route 108 was 46 miles an hour.

“I’m just surprised there aren’t more serious crashes here than there are,” Emidy said. “Very surprised.”

One issue is the sight distance and ledge outcrops at the site.

Emidy said a four-way stop has the highest safety benefit because it would reduce the number of crashes and resulting injuries.

“And with a signal, in wintry weather, you can put it on flash so it wouldn’t be any different than it is today for vehicles coming down the hill (on Route 108 from Rumford). And with the advanced technology we have with signals, they can detect trucks.”

“This is kind of a unique situation,” he said. “You’ve got a lot of ledge there, you’ve got as S-curve coming into the intersection.”

Along with the traffic signal, there would be a flashing sign with the words “be prepared to stop” on top of the hill for traffic traveling from the Rumford end of Route 108.

Emidy said the estimated cost of the project is about $500,000, with 90% of the design and construction federally funded and the rest paid by the state.

“There’s no expense for the town except for electricity for the low-cost LED lighting,” he said.

The time frame for installation would be 2027.

“Given the history, we definitely want to do something here,” Emidy said. “We don’t want to make it worse, but I think it’s been a high-crash location for long enough. I think this will be an improvement.”

Board Chairperson Arthur Clifford, Vice Chairperson Gail Belyea and Raquel Welch-Day voted to write a letter to the Maine Department of Transportation in support of installing the stop light. Member Katie Lawrence was absent. A fifth selectman’s position is vacant.