Seeking bidders: First traffic light in Stowe

According to Stowe town manager Charles Safford, the utility work — overhead power line relocation — was in preparation for the traffic light. The Vermont Department of Transportation has completed the project design, with an aim of starting road construction for the intersection in August. The actual light will be installed early next year.

The town is about to put the project out to bid.

Years of increasingly large traffic buildups on West Hill Road for people trying to make a left turn onto Route 100 spurred the town to hire CLD Consulting Engineers, of Manchester, N.H., to study the best way to solve problems at the intersection, and it was determined a traffic light was the best way.

In earlier discussions about West Hill Road and the Moscow Road intersection on the south side of town, ideas ranged from traffic lights to slip lanes to roundabouts.

CLD Consulting separately conducted a study on the speed limit of the area, and recommended the town lower the speed limit near West Hill Road from 40 m.p.h. to 30, which the town subsequently did. The culprit behind that recommendation was a large maple tree that made it tough for people trying to pull on to Route 100 to see past — drivers often try to gun it through the narrow gap in traffic when making a left-hand turn.

According to the study, conducted in 2016, there were 17 crashes at West Hill Road and Route 100 from 2011 to 2015. Six were broadside crashes, the type most linked to sight line restrictions.

If there’s ever a good time for road work, with ever-increasing traffic in Stowe, this might be the year. VTrans last year wrapped up four years’ worth of Route 100 reconstruction done in stages between Waterbury and the village of Morrisville.

Stowe public works director Harry Shepherd said he is not aware of any other scheduled projects in the area that would affect traffic. He said road construction will require one culvert replacement that will necessitate closing the road and detouring traffic for less than a week.