The Selectmen on Tuesday approved the first stage of the state's Routes 6 and 28 project, which will redesign Cranberry Highway from the area just before Cranberry Plaza to Redbrook Road.

Last year, MassDOT presented a redesign proposal to business and property owners along Cranberry Highway and were met with a laundry list of concerns.

"The project was not received very well," said Mass. Department of Transportation Assistant Project Development Engineer Bill Travers. "We made some design modifications to the project...where we received more public input."

The changes include a six-foot wide concrete median, U-turns at intersections, and narrower lanes to provide for five-foot wide shoulders and a sidewalk.

In addition, the project will end just after Redbrook Road, rather than going all the way to the bridge that connects Wareham to Bourne, as in previous designs. Travers said the area from the intersection of Cranberry Highway and Onset Avenue to the bridge -- where many accidents have occurred -- is part of a later phase of the project.

Travers says that after presenting the changes to the project at a public forum held a couple of weeks ago, he thinks the public has a more positive outlook on the project.

The reaction to the plans was "far less critical I would say. People are still concerned about how the project is going to impact their properties or their businesses," but appreciate the changes, Travers said.

Travers noted that a study of crashes, both fatal and non-fatal, had been completed by MassDOT and the number from that study indicated that changes need to be made to make the area safer for both motorists and pedestrians.

"That's really what is driving the project," Travers said, "the number of crashes that have happened along the corridor."

"You're not trying to change people's behavior....but you're trying to recognize how to make the road safer," said Selectman Judy Whiteside.

The state will maintain ownership of the road, which was a major sticking point for the town, as it would have had to take over maintenance of the road if the state did not retain ownership.