The new traffic lights at the intersection of routes One and 27 in Wiscasset took some getting used to. Like many, I turn there multiple times a day, most days. And like many, and possibly most, I’ve been doing it for years.

That has meant looking both ways, over and again, to turn right or left onto One from 27, and sitting with my left turn signal on for however long it took for a break in southbound Route One traffic when I wanted to get on 27 from northbound Route One. It could be tiresome, but it was familiar. We motorists knew to expect it, and knew that at heavy traffic times of day and year, the wait to enter Route One from 27, especially a left onto Route One, could be a while, in turn backing up vehicles on 27 sometimes.

If I want to get on Route One from Route 218 to head to Edgecomb, I tend to take the long way: a right onto Hooper Street, then left onto 27 to join Route One there, often more easily than from Route 218 (Federal Street) downtown. Before the lights were installed, depending on the time of day, it was easier to then take a right onto One, and up a ways pick a parking lot to turn around in when there’s a break in traffic. It’s circuitous but avoids a possibly long sit on Federal Street.

I used to worry about Route One speeders flying in if I was turning left onto One from 27, which was why I turned right. No more. Now, with the lights, I can go either direction I want to go, without assessing if there’s enough of a break in traffic to do it, because the lights tell all of us coming from every direction when to go, and when to stop.

Getting accustomed to looking for the lights on approach to the intersection is a little like an athlete’s acquiring muscle memory. It takes a lot of practice before you don’t feel like you’re still learning.

It is so nice now to no longer have a wait of uncertain length at that intersection, and to no longer have to worry about a speeder flying through on Route One when I’m mid-turn, I’m glad the lights are there.

We’ll see how much we all like them when summer and the rest of the traffic returns. But I’m optimistic the lights will be a good thing, then, too.