State Department of Transportation (DOT) officials are reviewing town police statistics concerning the high number of motor vehicle accidents that occur at the Main Street flagpole intersection, in considering possible safety improvements, such as installing medians, that could decrease the accident rate.

Police Commission member Daniel Rosenthal said June 7 that town officials have presented DOT representatives with detailed information on the accident rate at the five-legged flagpole intersection. The traffic data for that location which DOT officials have been using indicates far fewer accidents having occurred there than has been recorded by town police, Mr Rosenthal told Police Commission members.

From 2012 through 2014 inclusive, there were 55 collisions at the intersection, according to police. A majority of those accidents involved vehicles colliding with one another, and the other crashes involved vehicles driving into the steel flagpole.

Police Commission members have long discussed how to improve the problematic intersection, which has the second-highest accident rate of any location in town.

The flagpole, which is not shielded by barriers, functions as the hub of a traffic rotary. Access to the intersection is controlled by stop signs on Church Hill Road and West Street.

Mr Rosenthal said that DOT officials suggested possible incremental changes at the intersection, which involve the construction of medians on Main Street to the north and the south of the flagpole. Such medians would serve as a mechanism to force north-south traffic there to flow within single travel lanes when approaching the flagpole.

Currently, when motorists signal that they are planning to make a left turn from southbound Main Street onto eastbound Church Hill Road, or from northbound Main Street onto westbound West Street, the motorists who are traveling behind them often pass them on the right, creating hazardous situations.

"[DOT officials] were very receptive and very open" in terms of making incremental improvements, Police Commission member Brian Budd said. "They know how challenging the issue is," he added.

DOT officials plan to meet again with Police Commission representatives to consider making incremental changes at the intersection, he said.

Last year, the commission had a traffic study performed on the intersection. In that report, Frederick P. Clark Associates, Inc, of Fairfield recommended a range of major intersection changes, including installing traffic signals, altering the geometry of the junction, and modifying some traffic flow patterns.

Making any significant changes there has proven controversial among the Borough Board of Burgesses and some Main Street residents. The burgesses have expressed opposition to the traffic firm's recommendations.

Any changes at the flagpole intersection are subject to DOT approval because Main Street and Church Hill Road are state roads.

The flagpole is a state-sanctioned landmark, and thus protections are in place against making changes to it. Also, the area lies within the Borough of Newtown Historic District.