GREENLAND — The state’s Department of Transportation is proposing to reconfigure part of the 9-mile stretch of Route 33 that has recorded more than 100 accidents in the last decade.

The reconfiguration would take place on a 2.1-mile stretch of the highway, starting from the entrance to the former home of Great Bay Community College in Stratham east to Pond View Drive in Greenland. 

The DOT is looking to add a two-way turning lane to the road to address safety and congestion concerns. 

“Senator (Tom) Sherman approached us with community concerns,” said Michael Dugas, the state’s highway safety engineer. “We have an alternative that we can implement without widening the highway that we feel is worthwhile … if it’s a project that needed the highway to be widened, it would not be happening this quickly because that takes a lot more money and more planning.”

Currently, each lane on Route 33 is 12-feet-wide with a 10-foot shoulder on each side. 

Dugas said the plan calls for narrowing the shoulder to 5-feet-wide and taking away a foot from the current lanes to make space for a 12-foot turning lane for cars traveling in either direction.

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According to the DOT, the specific stretch sees about 13,000 vehicles per day.

Residents have complained that turning onto and off of 33 along the route has proven dangerous with multiple accidents over the years, including several fatalities.

Dugas said there are 50 access points on that stretch, including driveways and town roads, and there have been 132 crashes on the road over the last decade. Contributing factors to the accidents, he said, were driver distraction or inattention and failure to yield.  

Sherman said DOT and the Rockingham Planning Commission began looking at Route 33 in 2019. 

They came up with three phases for safety improvements with the first one being the installation of a no-passing zone on Route 33 which has already been completed. 

The second phase is to install the dedicated turning lane.

"The third phase, which is a longer-term phase, is doing a corridor study along (Route) 33, involving both Greenland and Stratham," said Sherman. 

Dugas said adding a turning lane would lower the crash rate at the site by 30%. 

“I think it’s a great solution,” said Ellen Bennett, a Greenland resident. “You don’t have to take your life in your hands to get into the neighborhood street or into your driveway.”

A few residents said they would like to see a lower speed limit rather than a turning lane. The speed limit for part of the 2.1-mile road is 50 mph and drops down to 40 mph. 

Greenland Police Chief Tara Laurent said speed is just one of the issues. 

"It’s the volume of traffic that goes through there and the number of side streets and/or driveways that are directly off of there," said Laurent. “It’s 50 (mph) because it's a long, straight, super-wide road."

Adding a left-turning lane, she said, would be a safer alternative for travelers making a left turn. The turning lane, she said, would allow vehicles to slow down without worrying about someone hitting them from behind.

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David Wolowitz, of Greenland, said shaving half of the shoulder could be a potential safety hazard to cyclists and pedestrians that use the lane.

“I’m a cyclist … and there’s more cyclists than ever,” said Wolowitz. “(The shoulder would be) 5 feet and that’s less room for (drivers) to stray…I can assure you when people stray, they stray anywhere they want to stray.”

Dugas said 5 feet is the recommended minimum by the DOT as an acceptable space for non-motorized (cyclist and pedestrians) lanes. Much of the rest of the highway even has narrower shoulders, with 4 feet of space or less, he added.

“We’re trying to make improvements within the space available and trying to balance the competing needs of motorists and non-motorists,” said Dugas. 

Laurent said the shoulders along the road are “enormous,” and that losing five feet should not affect the safety of non-motorists.

“I don’t think ultimately it’s going to be a problem,” said Laurent. “I think that even reducing the shoulder, I think that bicyclists will find that vehicles using that center turn lane is going to help their safety too…you’re not going to have vehicles going around other vehicles on the shoulder because they have the center turn lane.”

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Aside from the road reconfiguration, other planned improvements proposed by the DOT include replacing the existing guardrail and installing a signalized crossing at Stratham Hill Park. 

"The one section of guardrail within the project will be replaced because with the 1 ½ (inches) pavement overlay the guardrail’s height will no longer meet standards," said Dugas. "The new guardrail will be the same length as the existing but a couple of inches taller."

Dugas added the DOT's plan to install a signalized crossing is a request from the town of Stratham. The crosswalk, he said, would be installed from Sandy Point Road to the park driveway.

"Because of the speed and volume of traffic along Route 33 at the crossing, the crosswalk will need to include pedestrian signals," said Dugas. "We are still determining the appropriate type of signal – either a rectangular rapid flashing beacon or a pedestrian hybrid beacon."

Dugas said they also plan to evaluate the speed limit, which will require an engineering study and a before/after speed measurements.

The project, if approved, would cost $2.3 million from the federal safety funds with no local tax impact, said Dugas. The DOT is planning to advertise the project for bids this fall, and plans to start construction next year.