By Charlotte Boynton
A Maine Department of Transportation plan to install a traffic light at the intersection of Routes 1 and 27 in Wiscasset met with concern from downtown business owners during a meeting at Wiscasset High School May 21.
Maine Department of Transportation traffic engineer Thomas Errico uses a map to explain the department’s plans to improve traffic safety in Wiscasset during a meeting at Wiscasset High School May 21. The plan calls for a traffic light at the intersection of Routes 1 and 27, a prospect some business owners believe will make matters worse. (Charlotte Boynton photo) |
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Maine Department of Transportation Construction Manager Aurele Gorneau told a group of Wiscasset residents in the high school cafeteria that work will begin in early spring 2015 to improve pedestrian and vehicular traffic on Route 1 and Route 27 in Wiscasset.
The work includes installing sidewalks and intersection improvements along Route 1 and Route 27. The plans are the result of a June 2012 Bath Road safety audit by 16 town officials, business owners from Wiscasset and Edgecomb, and representatives of the Department of Transportation.
Gorneau told the group construction on the project is scheduled to begin in April and be completed by the end of June. Should the schedule fall behind, he said they would pull out in July and August and complete the work in the fall. The cost of the project is estimated to be about $620,000, according to Gorneau.
Thomas Errico, traffic engineering director, used a large map to explain the installation of sidewalks from the Bradford Road to the existing sidewalk on Washington Street and from The Bank of Maine entrance to the Lincoln County Courthouse parking lot, a crosswalk from Bradford Road to Lee Street, and a crosswalk on Route 1 near the intersection of Routes 1 and 27. The project will require the relocation of the telephone pole near Lee Street and Route 1, the removal of a red maple tree, and closing off the driveway into the municipal building from Route 1. Errico said the project also includes a traffic light at the intersections of Routes 1 and 27.
The crosswalk location near the town office was a priority project identified in Wiscasset’s 2010 bicycle-pedestrian plan. Reinstalling the crosswalk at Lee and Bradford as well as improved sidewalk connection to Route 27 were both identified as potential projects in the road safety audit. A traffic signal was also an identified project in the road safety audit.
Wiscasset resident John Reinhardt, owner of a bed-and-breakfast on Lee Street, said the proposed traffic light “would be a complete disaster.” He said people would use Lee Street to avoid the traffic light.
Gorneau pointed out that people use Lee Street and Bradford Road to avoid the traffic now, and he did not see that the traffic light would change that.
Ted Talbert, owner of Showcase Antiques Gallery on Main Street, said the traffic light “would make it worse instead of better for businesses on Main Street.”
Richard Thompson, the owner of French and Company, said he was offended by the lack of concern the DOT has for the businesses in town and the effect the traffic light would have on the businesses.
Paul Mrozinski asked Errico if the DOT had considered putting a roundabout at the intersection instead of a traffic light.
Errico told the group the Route 27 and Route 1 intersection meets the warrant requirement for a stoplight and is currently not operating efficiently. It has been identified by the DOT as a high-crash location. The DOT has investigated the feasibility of a roundabout, however, it would be required to be two lanes and would be too large for the area and present an increase in pedestrian challenges at the intersection.
“This a safety project, not a project to improve the traffic. We do not believe the traffic light will slow the traffic,” Errico said. “It could even make it a little better.”
Town Planner Misty Parker said the crosswalks, sidewalks, and the traffic light, which can be controlled by pedestrians, will make it safer for pedestrians to walk.
Donald Jones, a longtime member of the Wiscasset bypass committee for many years, said, “It’s a good plan. It gives people the ability to walk safely from the town office to the courthouse.” Jones indicated he would have liked to see a roundabout at the intersection instead of a traffic light, but did understand a roundabout would make it more difficult for pedestrians to cross Route 1 and Route 27.
A question was raised about how the traffic light would work for emergency vehicles entering on Route 1. Errico said the DOT would work with them, perhaps allowing the fire department or the ambulance service to push a button inside the station to control the light during an emergency.
The Maine Department of Transportation began working with Wiscasset to address its traffic problems after a proposed Route 1 bypass was scrapped by the DOT in 2011 because of an eagle’s nest being found in the path of the proposed bypass.
The DOT, with the approval of the Wiscasset Board of Selectmen, is planning changes to improve the safety and mobility of traffic through Wiscasset after the road safety audit, surveys, pedestrian data gathering, and analysis.
