SAFETY OF NORTH CARIBOU ROAD BEING DISCUSSED

By: David Deschesne

Fort Fairfield Journal, December 31, 2009

Speaking on behalf of the council was councilman, David McCrea. "With the incidents of so many accidents on that road, I think we as a community need to address that road. I lived out there for five years and I travel out there quite often since I have horses at Rocking S Ranch. I also travel that road a fair amount of time with my driver education. While I don't have the statistics, it sure does appear to most of us in the community that that road has way more than its share of accidents," said McCrea. "It's very hilly and very curvy, it's a dangerous road. It's not a road that people can be distracted on and be succesful getting to the other end like they can on a straightaway road. That is a real concern.

McCrea cited the disproportionate amount of accidents on the North Caribou Road. "We've had numerous accidents since the great tragedy of over a month ago. Right off the top of my head, I can't think of a road we've had a fatality on recently but we've had four in the past six months and at least another one in the last year or two added to that. That's exceedingly high and I think we would be remiss if we didn't address it. “Whether that addressing will make any difference, I don't know.”

Suggesting a study, a committee, or radar, McCrea pitched a few ideas that may help slow down the speed and increase awareness to the conditions of North Caribou road, which is essentially an old horse trail with pavement on it. “I have to think that if for a week we had a radar set up there and a dozen people on their way to Loring Commerce Center got picked off, I think the word would spread real fast that we better take a different route that is straighter and safer or maybe we ought to be more careful and slow down and be aware of the fact that, if for no other reason, we're going to get a ticket. I don't like to think of tickets as the only reason it would take for someone to slow down, but if that's what it takes, that's what it takes.”

He also suggested to just see a police car out there more often. “I know it's a big town with a lot of miles of road to patrol and we don't have twenty four officers like they do in some neighboring towns. I don't want to drive Dan crazy by saying we should hire three more police officers; that might be a budgetary problem. But, something has to happen. You talk to any of the people who live out there and they'll tell you it's a fast moving road. I think we should have something that at least it looks like we are addressing it if for no other reason than we've had so many tragedies there.”

Fort Fairfield Police Chief, Joe Bubar says his department has issued 383 speed warnings town-wide for 2009 - up from around 150 the year before - and that they write their share of summonses. He also concurs with most of McCrea's statements but, he indicates that speed may not be the sole issue on North Caribou Road. “None of the fatalities we've had on that road were speed related. The young lady that died a year ago there was alcohol related. The tragic accident we had a month or so ago we believe was a medical issue, he may have had a diabetic seizure. Our skier - it was an unfortunate situation. There wasn't anything the driver could do or the skier could do to avoid it. It happened, it was an accident and it wasn't speed related. We really couldn't put anybody at fault,” said Chief Bubar. “Now, as far as the road is concerned, the last three or four days I sent the officers out there to take a look at the road and I was out there again today. I saw one sign and that one sign was in town at the switch between the urban and rural compact area. That's the only forty-five mile per hour sign there. People feel that it's a route so they're traveling fifty to fifty-five miles per hour.”

The North Caribou Road exists under the auspices of the Maine Department of Transportation, who maintains it throughout the summer, while Fort Fairfield plows it in the winter.

“One thing we could do is contact MDOT to see if we can put a few more 45 mile per hour signs out there because a lot of people believe it's 50 or 55 zone.”

Chief Bubar describes another liability of the road is its narrowness and absence of breakdown lanes. “We've probably all seen or been in this type of situation where you're traveling on Route 1a, 167, or 161 in the winter time and your tire drops off the edge of the road. That's a major issue on this road, there's no breakdown lane. We have a breakdown lane on Route 167 going to Presque Isle. But it's kind of like a double-edge sword. If we fix North Caribou road and widened it out, people are just going to drive faster."

Imprudent speed and driver inattention seems to be a greater problem than exceeding the speed limit on North Caribou Road. “We've had some accidents that were not excessive speed within the last week or so. Could I put them in the category of imprudent speed? Probably, because they were going too fast for the conditions. When you have blowing snow and icy roads, even though they're doing 35 to 40 miles per hour, it's still too fast for conditions. Everybody's trying to hurry to get to work or to get home and that's where we run into the problem.”

Chief Bubar says that with just one officer on, it's hard to get out there and stay there. “A lot of the people I talk to want to see us here in town; they want us in the urban area, not the rural area.”

“I'd like to think that we are all so safety conscious that we're going to be careful just because it's safer,” said McCrea. “But we aren't all that way and we all occasionally do something that we shouldn't be doing, or go to fast. It seems to me that a radar setup out there once in a while would be beneficial.”

It was decided to request Maine DOT place more 45 mile per hour speed limit signs on the North Caribou road, as well as signs indicating that radar will be strictly enforced. A letter will be drafted to the major employers at Loring Commerce Center to advise their employees who travel that road about the safety issues on it. Also, the Maine DOT's portable radar unit may be deployed in the future to remind drivers of their speed.