BERWICK, Maine — After a fatal motorcycle crash earlier this month, a group of area residents want the Maine Department of Transportation to install a left-turn lane on Route 4 near ChildLight Montessori School.
Samantha Cheney, whose daughter attends the school, is among those leading the effort. She said turning across Route 4 traffic into the school’s driveway frequently is challenging and sometimes downright frightening, especially when drivers exceed the 55 mph speed limit.
“If you’re coming from the south and sitting there waiting to turn and you have a dump truck go by and the car shakes … it’s scary,” Cheney, of North Berwick, said in a recent interview.
She and others hope the state will restripe the section of Route 4 at Irwin Lane, which leads to the school, to include a left-turning lane for vehicles traveling north. With its wide shoulders, supporters believe there is enough room on Route 4 for the extra lane without requiring additional or new pavement.
A similar turning lane was installed at the nearby Northeast Credit Union ATM.
Route 4 is a state road, meaning state approval would be required for the lane to be installed. However, the group’s effort is not without precedent: Maine DOT installed centerline rumble strips on Route 4 in Berwick after a fatal car accident there in April 2013.
Patricia Haas, founder and head teacher at the nonprofit school, knows firsthand how dangerous Route 4 can be.
Haas, 59, of South Berwick was waiting to turn left onto the school’s road Sept. 2 when a motorcycle struck her car from behind. The driver, Steven Mickle, 63, of Ayer, Massachusetts, was killed.
Haas wouldn’t discuss the accident, in part because the police investigation is ongoing. At this point, Berwick police do not believe she did anything wrong, according to Capt. Jerry Locke.
Even so, Haas relives the crash daily and watches with apprehension as staff and parents turn into the school’s long gravel driveway.
“I am more likely in the classroom to be watching the road, hoping that they all might be safe when they turn in,” she said during an interview at the school Thursday morning.
The 20-year-old school accepts students ages 3 through 6. There are 32 students enrolled and six staff members, which means at least 70 trips to and from the school a day. The building off Irwin Lane was built in 2008.
Although the turning lane effort is relatively new, it has a key supporter in Berwick Town Manager Patrick Venne.
“This looks like a problem road,” he said this week. “It needs to be addressed, in my opinion. Putting in rumble strips is a good start, and chipping away at little things like this over time is probably a good next step.”
For now, Cheney and others are hoping to raise awareness about the effort.
Depending on the response, Venne said he might bring a resolution before the Board of Selectmen for consideration.
“I can’t say with any certainty that the road is causing these fatalities,” Venne said. “But there is no denying that since April 2013 we have had two fatalities on this road. It’s a road that at the very least warrants close attention.”
Distributed by MCT Information Services