The Town of Middletown will be installing flashing stop signs at several locations as part of a multi-phase approach to improving traffic safety.
The new signs, which will flash as cars approach, will be installed initially in the Chase’s Lane neighborhood and along Green End Avenue near the Green End Pond reservoir.
The objective, officials say, is to make drivers more aware of stopping at intersections where a full stop is required. The flashing signs will replace existing stop signs and will not be installed at any new locations.
“Traffic safety is certainly one of the items that we hear about the most with the town,” said Town Administrator Shawn J. Brown. “We’re taking a multi-phase approach to helping make Middletown safer for everyone and will continue to do so as potential solutions emerge.”
This effort comes after years of Middletown working to improve traffic safety for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. Those efforts range from working with the Rhode Island Department of Transportation to redesign major intersections to adding sidewalks and bicycle lanes to implementing traffic calming measures like speed humps.
The flashing stop signs will be evaluated for effectiveness after they are installed along Chase’s Lane and Green End Avenue. Residents are encouraged to report any non-emergency traffic and motor vehicle safety concerns online at https://mdl.town/Helps under the “Traffic Safety Concern” heading.
“This is an area where there’s clearly no one solution,” Brown acknowledged. “It’s also an area where we’ve heard our residents and businesspeople and we want to do what we can to help make it safer for everybody.”
The Town Council has also requested a town-wide traffic study, which Brown will report on at a future session. Police Department leadership is also pledging increased enforcement of speeding and motor vehicle regulations across town.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
