With 19 reported accidents, the Tory Hill intersection of Beech Plains Road, River Road and Narragansett Trail, above, tied in 2021 with Main Street-River Road as the highest crash intersection in Buxton. Robert Lowell / American Journal

The number of intersections where crashes occurred in Buxton during 2021 dropped along with the number of injuries, according to statistics provided by the Maine Department of Transportation.

There were five high crash site intersections last year, compared to seven in each of the previous two years. Crashes at the Main Street/River Road intersection, which tied with the Tory Hill intersection at 19 for the highest number of crashes, dropped from 23 a year ago and 20 in 2019. Injuries decreased as well: five were reported there in 2021, compared to eight in 2020 and 10 in 2019.

The Tory Hill intersection had 19 the past two years, down from 20 in 2019. It had 10 injuries in 2021; 14, 2020; and 13 in 2019.

“As far as the intersection of Main Street (Route 4A) and River Road (Route 112), I still consider it one of the most dangerous intersections in Buxton,” Buxton Police Chief Troy Cline said Wednesday. “I would like to see an actual ‘stop and go’ light system at that intersection. I feel strongly that it would help reduce the number of crashes we are seeing there.”

The state defines high crash sites as locations that have had eight or more crashes over a three-year period in comparison to other similar locations in Maine, according to Paul Merrill, MDOT communications director.

“As far as the reduction, I know some officers park in the Low’s Variety parking lot to specifically monitor that intersection, so the increased officer visibility may have helped deter reckless drivers,” Cline said.

Rounding out the five high crash intersections in 2021 are Broadturn-Long Plains-Portland roads intersection with 12 crashes with six injuries; Brewster Place-Narragansett Trail-Old Orchard Road, 10 crashes, seven juries; and Joy Valley-Narragansett Trail-Salmon Falls Road, 8 crashes, three injuries.

Aside from intersections, a strip along River Road between Upper Egypt and Back Nippen roads had 10 crashes.