Dispute over Alton’s rumble strips remains a rough road – The Union Leader

John Govoni stands in front of his home on Route 3A in Alton, pointing to the center of the road where rumble strips were installed and removed.(DAN SEUFERT/Correspondent) ALTON The police chief here has weighed in on some residents demands that the state remove the remaining rumble strips on Route 28 and hes not siding with the state Department of Transportation.

People concerned about noise and driver disruption from the strips began circulating a petition Tuesday asking Department of Transportation Commissioner Victoria Sheehan to fulfil her initial promise to recognize the concern of local residents.

Petition organizer Sylvia Leggett said that includes removing centerline rumble strips along Route 28; the state has removed ones it placed along the side of the road. The strips were put in place last May.

Leggett and Police Chief Ryan Heath said the center strips are a bigger problem than the side strips on that stretch of road because there are several passing zones and there is two-way traffic. When drivers pull across the line to pass, they get a big jolt, Leggett said.

Heath said he appreciates the value of rumble strips, which are aimed at stopping drivers from crossing the center line and causing head-on collisions. The vibrations from the side strips can force distracted or drowsy drivers to react before leaving the roadway.

Heath researched accidents and crashes on the road last summer and found that since 2005, there have been 345 accidents on that stretch of highway. Of those, only 20 were attributed to sleepy or fatigued drivers. Most were caused by animals crossing the road, he said.

Theres a need for rumble strips in this country, but they dont help us much, the chief said. I dont agree with having rumble strips in the middle of passing zones.

The petition, which had 170 signers as of Wednesday afternoon, asks the state to remove the centerline rumble strips in the passing zones.

DOT Assistant Commissioner William Cass responded to the concerns with a letter last Thursday.

The Department of Transportation staff continues to evaluate rumble strip installations, including N.H. Route 28 through Alton, he wrote. We recognize the concerns expressed about noise and disturbance from the rumble strips.

But with regard to centerline rumble strips and passing zones, DOT officials collected vehicle passing data on N.H. Route 28 in Alton which indicated a relatively low number of passing movements compared to the total number of vehicles traveling the route, he wrote.

State officials are concerned that removing long stretches of rumble strips along roadway corridors, such as along passing zones, would reduce the effectiveness of the installation.

DOT this spring will measure noise levels of vehicles traversing the rumble strips.

We hope this data will help to improve this and future installations of rumble strips, and will confirm whether there is some unique aspect of the installation in Alton that would validate further remediation, Cass wrote.

We are continuing to determine whether there is something unique about the rumble strips in Alton that would warrant further reconsideration.

dseufert@newstote.com

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Dispute over Alton's rumble strips remains a rough road - The Union Leader