Members of Gorham’s legislative delegation this week joined those calling for a stoplight at an intersection where an accident last week has now claimed a second life.

Richard A. Vittum, 41, of South Hiram, died Sunday at Maine Medical Center, where he had been in critical condition suffering from head injuries since Feb. 18, the day of the accident.

Bruce W. Blow, 56, of Old Orchard Beach, was pronounced dead after being transported to the hospital the day of the accident.

Sen. Phil Bartlett, D-Cumberland County, and Rep. Chris Barstow, D-Gorham, want the Maine Department of Transportation to place a traffic light at the busy intersection of Main Street and Libby Avenue.

“It’s a horrible place,” said Bartlett.

Vittum was driving an R.W. Herrick trash hauler eastbound on Main Street and Blow was in a Maietta Construction Co. dump truck exiting Libby Avenue when the two collided. The initial police report said it appeared that Blow failed to yield to Vittum.

Gorham Police Chief Ron Shepard said this week the accident is still under investigation. Officer Brent Frank, who is reconstructing the accident along with Sgt. David Hall of Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, said they are waiting to receive a report from state police about the brakes, tires and weights of the two trucks.

“We’re working on a scale diagram of the crash scene,” said Frank, who also said speeds of the vehicles at the time of crash would be computed.

Frank said neither driver had a moving violation since 2002. Frank said the accident file is as thick as a phone book.

The intersection has been an ongoing source of concern for the town. Officials had sent the Department of Transportation, which decides where lights are installed, a letter in December asking for a feasibility study of a traffic light at the intersection. There has been no response as yet.

Mark Latti, a spokesman for the Maine Department of Transportation, said Wednesday that a department traffic engineer, Steve Landry, is reviewing data for the intersection. “He’s going to contact the town,” Latti said.

Advocating a traffic light, Barstow and Bartlett also have contacted the department. Bartlett said he and Barstow are pushing the state to address the situation.

Barstow said installation of traffic lights now would make sense because Libby Avenue is under reconstruction.

“There’s no reason not to include that in the budget,” Barstow said.

Residents want to see a light there, as well. Kim Barden, a parent and manager at Toddle Inn Child Care on Libby Avenue, said many parents drive through that intersection to drop children off at the day care and many school buses pass through the intersection daily. Because of heavy traffic, she said, drivers just take a chance to go across it.

“It’s a dangerous situation,” Barden said.

Lori Arsenault, who lives on Main Street near the intersection, predicted in a letter this week to Gorham Town Manager David Cole that there would be more accidents at that corner if safety measures are not implemented. She said there have been too many accidents there.

Arsenault doesn’t want to wait for the state. She said she and friends are suggesting the town paint bright yellow stop lines on Libby Avenue. Also, Arsenault said, blinking red lights on stop signs and additional stop-ahead signs would help.

“We know there will be more accidents at the corner unless something is done,” Arsenault wrote.

Barstow, who lives near the intersection, said he’s consulting with Cole, the Town Council and Shepard about the situation.

“It’s really sad,” Barstow said about last week’s tragedy.

Barstow said he believed fog was a contributing factor in the accident and that a traffic light would provide order.

He said he’s had near-misses in that intersection, and it’s a residential neighborhood with many young children.

“There’s enough compelling reasons to put that light in,” Barstow said.

Meanwhile, Vittum’s mother, Donor Dorr, said her son, nicknamed Andy, loved driving a truck, and he was very dedicated to his family. His daughter, Brandi Leigh Vittum, 20, graduated from Sacopee Valley High School and Bridgton School of Massage. His son, Andrew James Vittum, 17, is a junior at Sacopee Valley High School, where he plays baseball and football.

“Andy was super proud of these kids,” Dorr said.

“He would do anything for his children,” said Tammi Harmon, mother of his children.

Dorr said her son enjoyed snowmobiling, mud racing and antique cars. He was a NASCAR racing fan and owned a Harley Davidson. “He loved motorcycles,” his mom said.

Dorr said her son would “do anything for anybody.”

Harmon said he loved his dog Diamond, a female Rottweiler, he called “Miss Thing.” When she died, she said, he erected a monument in their back yard – “a heart-shaped stone out of granite,” she said.

His mother said her son had a “wicked good” sense of humor and a friend, Dale Metcalf, said Vittum had a knack for imitating voices.

“He could make you laugh,” Metcalf said.

Vittum’s funeral is Feb. 28 in Porter. Blow’s funeral was Feb. 22 in Biddeford.

After second death, cries intensify for Gorham stop light