The town may be able to get a traffic light at the intersection of Route 101 and Nashua Road for about $300,000 to $400,000 – a lot less than what the state first told the community it would cost.

The state Department of Transportation told the town this spring that it could not install a light at the intersection, which is expected to see many high schoolers driving through, without expanding Route 101 around it. But voters in the town election balked at the estimated $3 million price tag for the project.

In the past month, town and DOT officials have devised an alternative fix, said Town Council Chairman Mike Izbicki. The details will be discussed at a Tuesday, June 24, meeting at 7 p.m. at the Bedford High School theater.

The new plan calls for a total of four lanes on the highway as much as 700 feet in either direction from the proposed Nashua Road light. Bell Hill Road would become a right-in only from Route 101 and a left-turn lane would be added to Nashua Road, Izbicki said.

That would cost at least $1 million. At a previous public meeting in April, state officials suggested the town could simply install the light for $300,000. Izbicki said they had misspoken, failing to tell the audience that the town would still have to do work on the approaches to the light. The state, however, has said it will reimburse the town two-thirds of the $1 million, which means Bedford would effectively pay for the light and improvements to Nashua Road and Bell Hill Road to accommodate it.

The state would sign a municipality agreement with the town in which it would commit to the reimbursement within three to four years.

“This is the best deal we’re going to get out of this from the state,” Izbicki said.

He said the work would not have to be redone if the town and state decided to collaborate on improving and widening of other parts of Route 101 in Bedford. “I think the only way we’re going to get 101 done is to work with the state and do small pieces.”

At the June 24 public meeting, DOT representatives will present two additional options to residents.

One is a slight modification of the $1 million alternative. The other is the original $3 million plan, with four lanes extending from Wallace Road to the gas station near Meetinghouse Road. Izbicki is calling on residents to come to the meeting.

“I want to get feedback from the voters and the residents, and I want them to tell us which way they want us to go.”

The Town Council would then return to voters with the final alternative at the election next March, allowing construction to begin that summer. Izbicki said the improved intersection would be finished in time for the start of school in September 2009, when all four grades will be at the high school.

“The bottom line is, I want to see a light there,” Izbicki said.