To allow construction to continue in the ongoing project to relocate the intersection of South Main Street (Route 25) and the northern end of Pecks Lane, the northern end of Pecks Lane was closed to through-traffic on May 21.

Barricades with signs stating that through-traffic closure are positioned on both ends of the affected road section, which is about 400 feet long. The partial road closure is expected to last until early November, when the project is scheduled for completion. Schultz Construction, which bid $969,930 for the project, is doing the intersection project for DOT.

The southern end of Pecks Lane, which intersects with South Main Street about 4,800 feet south of those two roads' northern intersection, will remain open to normal traffic during the construction project, according to the state Department of Transportation (DOT).

South Main Street will retain traffic flow in the area during the project. During the partial closure of northern Pecks Lane, local traffic seeking access to properties with frontage there may do so via Pecks Lane's southern intersection with South Main Street.

The intersection realignment project will shift the northern intersection of South Main Street and Pecks Lane southward to improve travel safety in an area where there are many accidents. The intersection has one of the highest motor vehicle accident rates in town, with most collisions involving rear-end crashes on southbound South Main Street.

The project is intended to simplify a confusing multi-road junction, improve traffic flow, and reduce motor vehicle accidents. The long junction in a commercial/residential area is where South Main Street, Pecks Lane, Prospect Drive, and Cedar Hill Road meet.

Planned changes include moving the intersection of Pecks Lane and South Main Street about 250 feet to the south. In the new configuration, both sides of Pecks Lane will be flared to provide sufficient space for vehicle-turning motions where the two roads meet.

The improvement project will affect about a 775-foot-long section of South Main Street. The project will include extending an existing southbound bypass lane on South Main Street southward from South Main Street's intersection with Cedar Hill Road to the new intersection of South Main Street and Pecks Lane.

Such an extended bypass lane would provide sufficient space for southbound motorists to pass, on the right, other southbound motorists who are waiting to make left turns either onto Prospect Drive or onto Pecks Lane at its planned new intersection.

A tall stone wall that stands on the west side of South Main Street, just south of its intersection with Cedar Hill Road, will be removed to improve sight lines for motorists entering South Main Street from Cedar Hill Road. An embankment near that wall also would be cut back to improve the view.

The intersection improvement project has been in the planning stages since 1996.