SCARBOROUGH – At its next meeting, Scarborough’s new transportation committee will review engineering plans that represent the first attempts to resolve longstanding traffic issues at the busy Oak Hill intersection.
That session will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 29, in the town manager’s conference room.
Gorrell-Palmer Consulting Engineers of Gray has been paid $5,000 to design a sidewalk on Black Point Road, leading from the Amato’s side of the Route 1 intersection to Eastern Road. Also up for committee review is a set of “pedestrian islands” on Route 1, similar to the ones recently built at the Route 1 intersection with Haigis Parkway.
“Given how wide Route 1 is to cross, if there’s a landscaped, protected island in the middle, people are potentially more comfortable getting across, “said Town Planner Dan Bacon. “And, if they don’t get across, they have a safe place to be.”
Although subject to review by the Maine Department of Transportation, the islands would be built by the town using about $300,000 on hand in impact fees paid by developers for intersection improvements.
According to Bacon, the proposed sidewalk may just fit within the town’s right-of-way in some spots, although space does allow for an esplanade of sorts in front of the former Oak Hill School at 29 Black Point Road.
If the transportation committee approves the plan, it will move to the Town Council, to then be referred to the finance committee. That would fast track the proposal for construction as soon as this summer.
“I think we have the political winds in our favor for budget consideration,” said Town Manager Tom Hall. “We are moving that forward with support from Councilor Richard Sullivan, who serves as liaison to the committee, with an eye to having it done as a part of my budget proposal.”
No cost estimate is available at this time. Hall said whatever the outlay might be, it’ll likely be bonded as part of his annual capital improvements package.
“If the committee’s comfortable with it, we’ll also have a neighborhood meeting to get some input on the concept,” said Bacon.
A sidewalk also is planned on the opposite side of Black Point Road in front of an approved 81-unit assisted living complex. However, the project owner, New York-based Wegman Cos., is only putting in the walk along its road frontage. It will not connect to any other sidewalks.
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