WARREN, Maine — The death of a 19-year-old Connecticut man from a crash at Route 90 and Western Road has again focused attention on an intersection that has long been recognized as dangerous.
For nearly 20 years, the state has proposed remedies. The Maine Department of Transportation’s current plan is to construct a single-lane roundabout. Under that plan, the state would seek bids this fall and begin construction in 2027 at an estimated cost of $3.4 million.
On Sunday, Churchill Burwell of New Haven, Connecticut, died when he pulled out onto Route 90 from the north side of Western Road and collided with another driver traveling east on Route 90. Burwell died at the scene. The young man’s family owns property locally, where they spend summers.
There were 11 crashes at that intersection from 2023 through 2025, according to Maine Department of Transportation data. Those crashes injured a combined 16 people. There were another 30 crashes from 2014 through 2021. There have been several fatalities at the intersection in the past 20 years.
Knox County Sheriff Patrick Polky said the core issue is a dangerous optical illusion created by the intersection’s design. While Route 90, also known as Camden Road, is officially a two-lane highway with a posted speed limit of 50 mph, Polky said, its physical footprint is identical to a wide, four-lane highway due to exceptionally massive paved shoulders.
“This wide-open layout, combined with long, unobstructed views from both Western Road approaches, tricks the human brain,” Polky said. “Drivers stopped at Western Road routinely misjudge the closing velocity of oncoming vehicles. It gives them a false sense of security that they have plenty of time to cross or turn, when in reality, oncoming traffic is closing the gap at 50 mph.”
The sheriff acknowledged that because Route 90 is a state highway, the ultimate authority on modifications rests solely with the Department of Transportation.
The sheriff “firmly supports” permanent changes to the intersection, adding that a roundabout is structurally proven to slow traffic down naturally and eliminate high-speed, right-angle collisions.
“Stationary law enforcement details cannot correct a physical engineering flaw; a structural change is required,” Polky said.
He said the tragic, fatal crash has deeply affected the community.
“Our thoughts and deepest condolences go entirely to all the families and loved ones impacted by this incident. There is an understandable public demand for answers right now. However, looking at this tragedy through a purely political lens or blaming it on a general lack of police enforcement shows a profound misunderstanding of local road geography and actual traffic safety data. We cannot police our way out of a fundamentally dangerous road design,” Polky said.
He said the sheriff’s office manages an intensely high volume of emergency calls daily. Deputies must prioritize immediate threats to life and safety, which limits static traffic details.
“More importantly, stationed cruisers cannot change the laws of physics or optical illusions built directly into our asphalt,” he said.
In August 2022, the town sent a letter to the Department of Transportation, stating support for a roundabout that the state was now proposing rather than a traffic light.
“There have been multiple accidents and close calls over the years that has caused town residents and officials to express the need to have these sections be reviewed before more tragedy happens,” stated the August 2022 letter.
But town officials have not always backed safety proposals for that intersection.
In 2010, the Select Board did not support a plan for a traffic light to be installed.
And in April 2013, the Select Board voted 4-1 not to enter into an agreement with the state to install a traffic signal at the intersection.
This came despite public safety personnel speaking out for the light, Glenn Aho, then the interim town manager, stated.
Then-Rep. Jeffrey Evangelos, an independent from Friendship, presented the project to the board in 2013. Evangelos expressed his dismay at its decision.
“How much is a loved one’s life worth in Warren? According to 4 of the 5 selectmen, not much; not as much as the cost of a couple light bulbs and the cost of the power to light them. And therein lies the tragedy, as this dangerous location lays in wait to claim another life. It doesn’t have to be this way,” Evangelos stated in a 2013 letter to the editor in The Courier-Gazette following the board’s vote to reject a traffic light.
Select Board members had expressed concern about the cost of maintaining the light.
Its chair at the time, Doug Pope, was the lone vote to back the project.
“Personally, I live close to there and it is a bad intersection,” he said.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.