The town of Windham is moving ahead with plans to create a road to parallel Route 302 in North Windham, looping around a heavy traffic area along the busy corridor.
On Tuesday night, the Windham Town Council discussed the design and scope of the project with Gray engineering firm Gorrill-Palmer and the town’s Economic Development Director Keith Luke.
The road would run from Franklin Drive, the access road for Home Depot in North Windham, to Route 115 and continue from Route 115 south to Commons Avenue which connects at a four-way intersection with River Road and Route 302.
“This situation could really help the Boody’s Corner area and redirect traffic,” Luke said.
The aim of the parallel road would be to give commuters the option to drive along these quick routes north and south and leave the Route 302 corridor in North Windham to traffic visiting the commercial center.
“Local traffic is the town’s responsibility,” Luke said. “And the principal benefit of this would be for local residents,” Luke said.
Gorrill-Palmer submitted what the cost of full traffic study of the parallel road and what it would cost. With hourly rates running from $35 to $140 for Gorrill-Palmer staff, the study itself will cost an estimated $28,000 with expenses like copying, lodging, meals and mileage included.
The town has already set aside money for the study out of tax revenue collected by Roosevelt Promenade TIF district.
The study would include both traffic counts at present day intersections and forecast traffic counts for Boody’s Corner and other major intersections along the Route 302 corridor.
With this information, Gorrill-Palmer would outline and design the best alignment for the parallel road as it connects with existing roadways. The engineering firm would also project an estimated cost for construction of the road.
“When we start looking at the east side of 302, we’ll pull together data and come up with the best alignments,” Peter Hedrich of Gorrill-Palmer told the council.
Traffic counts already exist for many of the intersections in question and, on Saturday, Gorrill-Palmer plans to record peak traffic numbers at the intersection of Commons Avenue, Route 302 and River Road.
It is still unclear how the first phase of the road network would connect Franklin Drive to Route 115. The owner of the Windham Mall has agreed to allow construction behind his property. The town has also contacted landowners between the mall and Sabbady Point Road to inform them about the possibility of the parallel road.
Underlining the discussion of how to create the road was the option of “eminent domain.” When brought up by councilors wary of the option, Luke and Town Manager Anthony Plante both said the town would pursue all opportunities to work with the landowners before even considering taking land by eminent domain. The town would “mitigate the need for those types of actions,” Luke said.
Councilor David Tobin, who said he’s seen similar parallel road projects discussed in past and then fail to be acted upon, suggested that the council formally give approval to proceed with the study.
This Gorrill-Palmer map shows North Windham roads as they exist today. The engineering firm is performing a study to evaluate whether the town should create a road that would parallel the Route 302 corridor to alleviate traffic.Send questions/comments to the editors.
