LYMAN – York County Sheriff Philip Cote will step up patrols, institute a zero-tolerance police for traffic infractions and launch a public awareness campaign to improve safety on Route 111.

Cote also said Thursday that he will ask highway engineers to look into additional changes that can be made to make the highway safer.

Cote outlined his plans at the site of the eighth fatality this year on the stretch of highway between Biddeford and Sanford.

John Gerry, who was killed on New Year’s Eve, had just left work for the last time after retiring from Time Warner Cable. He was two miles from home when he died.

Police say the driver of the other vehicle, Christopher Lyons, 34, of Biddeford, was driving drunk and with a suspended license when the two vehicles collided head-on. Numerous cans of beer – several of which were empty – were found on the front floorboard of the pickup truck that Lyons was driving.

Lyons, who made his initial appearance in Springvale District Court Wednesday, was ordered held at the York County Jail on $100,000 bail while awaiting trial on charges of manslaughter, elevated aggravated assault, criminal operating under the influence and operating after revocation.

“He has been declared a habitual offender and was not supposed to be driving at all when this collision and death occurred on New Year’s Eve,” District Attorney Michael Cantara said.

Gerry moved back to Maine from Florida in 1984. Family members described him as devoted to his 98-year-old mother and said he was looking forward to spending more time with her and other family members who live nearby.

His family members praised Cote’s announcement.

“If this is what it takes to help solve this problem and to save any other lives … you can’t put a dollar figure on that,” said Deborah Gerry, a niece who serves as family spokeswoman.