BY KEVIN SHALVEY

The new rumble strips that have been carved into 12 miles of Route 202/9, starting from Interstate 89’s Exit 5, are causing some nearby residents to grumble.

“It sounds like a woodchipper. So every time somebody passes somebody, you hear the right tires and then the left tires go over,” said Henniker’s Amy Patenaude.

The rumble strips -- grooved pavement intended to curb driving outside the highway’s lanes -- are along the sides of the highway, but also along the center.

Some portions of the road, including a section in Hopkinton near Tamarack Road and Peaked Hill Drive, allow cars to pass, a maneuver that requires crossing the center line.

“It’s a roadway that’s had quite a history of crashes and fatal accidents,” said Michael Fudala, chief of final design for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation.

The strips came about as the result of resident meetings about solutions to crashing problems.

“It has been a technique that’s been used all over the country with success,” said Fudala.

The strips are part of a $3.5 million paving project on the road, said Fudala.

The NHDOT has heard complaints about noise on the road and drivers being uncomfortable, he said.

“Some motorists, although it’s not technically legal, use the 10-foot shoulder in advance of the intersections” with some crossroads, said Fudala.

In those cases, like near the Route 127 intersection, the NHDOT is considering paving over the side-of-the-road strips.

The change might be made for two reasons -- noise concerns from residents and driver comfort, said Fudala.

Patenaude said the side strips near her house aren’t the issue. The passing lane is making the most noise and disturbing those who live along the highway.

“I think a lot of people don’t live near a passing zone and don’t have the same problem,” she said.

Patenaude said she’s readying a petition to take to the NHDOT. The petition will not necessarily ask that the strips be removed, but that the department take a look at how they can be improved.

“It is very loud. It will wake you up. And I can’t imagine what it’s going to sound like this fall and winter when the leaves are all off the trees,” said Patenaude.