It will take another 16 months, minimum. But the state has scheduled and set aside funding for the installation of a roundabout at the intersection of Route 177 and Robert Street/Tickle Road.

Town administrator James Hartnett said this week that the state Department of Transportation has scheduled construction for 2026. And while "that date gets moved around depending on funding and if other projects are not ready," it is currently programmed into the state's TIP, or Transportation Improvement Plan, for that year.

That's good, he said — "It's not always easy to get these (projects) into the plan."

Town officials have been looking for solutions to slow traffic at the intersection for more than three years. After studying several possible solutions including a traffic light, engineers hired to study the issue settled on a roundabout as best option for reducing speeding and accidents at the site, which claimed a life as recently as 2019.

Other alternatives previously considered included maintaining the existing two-way stop control with a new flashing signal, a four way stop control, and a full traffic signal at the intersection. The roundabout would be the second costliest alternative, estimated to cost $2 million.

Route 177 and Gifford Road
Another town/state project, to install overhead traffic lights at the intersection of 177 and Gifford Road, appears to be moving ahead and town officials hope to have the project contracted out by December.

Hartnett said the plan is to install an overhead mast with a blinking light, and he hopes the project's design work will be complete over the next couple of months. The project would be paid for with state ARPA funding which have a sunset date, so "we need to get it under contract by the end of December," he said.