The Connecticut Department of Transportation is beginning a new pilot program that will bring rumble strips to the centerlines of four rural roads.
The program would bring about 11 miles of rumble strips to sections of Route 202 in Litchfield, Route 6 in Brooklyn and Hampton, Route 34 in Derby, and Route 12 in Groton and Ledyard.
“We are looking to keep drivers from crossing over the centerline, and having a serious head-on and side-swipe opposite collisions that can occur in these rural areas,” said Colin Baummer, a transportation engineer in the Division of Traffic and Engineering.
According to Baummer, these strips are similar to the ones used on the shoulders of many highways throughout the state, but are designed to be shallower, narrower and more spaced out in the center of the road.
Thirty states in the U.S., including all New England states and New York, have already installed centerline rumble strips on many of their rural roads.
Baummer said the DOT chose these four locations based on a number of criteria, including speed limit, amount of traffic, and the pavement’s condition over the last few years.
Construction is said to begin between mid-April and the end of the month, and should finish by the beginning of May.
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There are no plans to close the roads entirely. Traffic will instead be maintained on an alternating one-way direction.
