DOT writes $750k check for notorious Weirs intersection

The New Hampshire Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded the city approximately $750,000 to begin the process of reconfiguring the intersection of Route 3 and Weirs Boulevard (Route 11B), best known as "malfunction junction."

The funds have been allocated through the Highway Safety Improvement Program, which uses accident data to identify and prioritize projects to enhance safety. The DOT ranked "malfunction junction," where the Police Department reported ten accidents between 2004 and 2008, among 35 intersections across the state in need of improvement.

Together with the city the DOT will host a public information session late next month to sound residents on alternative designs for the intersection.

Some years ago a proposal to develop a convenience store, gas station and donut shop on the vacant lot at the southeast corner of the junction foundered when the Planning Board concluded that such an intensive use of the property would generate more traffic than the intersection could handle safely. The proposal included improving the intersection by widening the roadway and realigning the existing traffic island and adding another to form "unconventional T-junction" layout.

In 2006, a team sponsored by the United States Environmental Protection Agency suggested replacing the intersection with a roundabout after a series of meetings with public officials and property owners, capped by a public forum.

Planning Director Shanna Saunders said that installing a traffic signal at the intersection represented a third option. She said that once a design is selected, the reconstruction of the intersection is slated to begin in 2011.