If you happened to notice the new stop sign at the corner of Chapel and Main Street - which meet at the bottom of a fairly steep hill - you're not the only one.

Wareham resident Gerry Barrows brought the sign up to Selectmen at Tuesday night's meeting.

"It's awful," said Barrows. "The line is backed way up to the lights," blocking traffic on High Street, which Chapel Street crosses.

"The state put it up, but it's actually a town road," said Selectmen Chair Peter Teitelbaum, noting that town officials had not been given advance notice by the state of the installation of the sign.

Town Administrator Derek Sullivan said that the state had been asked to study particularly dangerous intersections by Director of Municipal Maintenance Mark Gifford, and  had installed that stop sign without notifying the town.

He said that he has since been in touch with state officials and they were apologetic.

"It was an oversight. They're willing to meet with the Road Commissioners," to work out a solution said Sullivan.

In an e-mail to Wareham Week, MASSDOT representative Sara Lavoie wrote: "The installation of the Wareham stop sign is one of hundreds being placed across the state in areas that are known to need a stop sign and for whatever reason, the sign is missing...In our haste to complete the installation, we overlooked informing the community directly and we apologize for that."

Lavoie also wrote that any place on a road that has a white stop line is also supposed to have a stop sign.