By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — The rumble strip is a simple solution.

Rumble strips, the grooves placed in the pavement on the centerline, have been used to reduce head-on collisions, according to the state transportation department. When a vehicle’s tires pass over the rumble strip, it creates a noise that alerts the driver that he or she is crossing into the oncoming lane.

Last summer, rumble strips were put in place on Route 302 in Raymond and Casco.

The Maine Department of Transportation “MDOT will be installing rumble strips on Route 302 in Naples,” Naples Town Manager Ephrem Paraschak said. It is a statewide goal to reduce accidents at high risk places, he said.

Paraschak said from his communication with MDOT, the rumble strips will be placed in the pavement from the area past the Naples Fire Station to the Sandy Creek Road turnoff, which is located by Paris Farmers Union in Bridgton.

The rumble strip project will take into account places where it might be annoying such as “a campground 50 yards away,” Paraschak said.

He did not have an exact start date, but expected it to happen sometime this summer. He said MDOT owns a machine that presses the grooves into the centerline while driving along the road.

“Statistically, it’s a safety thing,” he said, adding that the noise from driving on the rumble strip, which is loud and jolting, would wake up any driver who is drifting off to sleep.

Speaking of safety issues, Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce plans to have his annual meeting with Paraschak next week.

Two items will be addressed: The need to reduce speeding on Route 114, and also putting a deputy on the clock during the Maine Blues Fest in June.

“Next week, I am meeting with the sheriff. The sheriff comes up yearly,” Paraschak said.

“They’ll probably be adding a deputy at Blues Fest,” he said. “It’s not anything negative. But, the call volume goes up.”