Yes, I know, this is supposed to be a few words extolling the joy of reminiscence but often happenings around us urge comments relative to daily life.
First off, absentee owners of the Maine Mall have proposed adding to the traffic glut by the addition of a 16-screen theater to the property. If a parking garage is erected therein, the same traffic surge would exist.
I doubt if the Chicago-based mall owners care too much about South Portland’s traffic problems. A 16-screen movie palace would enhance the Maine Mall and draw more customers to the property. Traffic to and from the movie palace would impact on an already stretched road network and boost the lure of retail expansion west of the mall.
In another direction, the town of Scarborough has in the works proposals to alter some traffic directions, one of which involves Commerce Road, Black Point Road (Route 207) and Eastern Road. Inserting a couple of new roads in the process would make a section of the Black Point Road one-way and shunt busy traffic onto Eastern Road.
An earlier mailing from the project requested opinions from those receiving the letter. They did not respond to such opinions as were given. A series of meetings has begun to stir the pot and opposition to the plan is growing. It’s another instance of progress tampering with established neighborhoods and fuses of negativity are easily lit.
A detailed map, Figure 20 – Oak Hill, of the Scarborough Town Wide Traffic Study, exhibits the new construction of additional roads and changed traffic patterns. It does not show the proposed one-way sections of the Black Point Road. Nor does it show planned new residential areas.
The importance of a neighborhood cannot be overstated. We’ve seen the crushing defeat of the Great American Neighborhood (GAN) from concerned Scarborough residents. Even a promise from the state to alleviate a traffic situation failed to deter well-organized opposition. A recent court decision may change the playing field here but commitment from the state highway department is no longer in place.
Neighborhoods, in their many varied configurations, are the selected locations to raise a family and enjoy the fruits of daily labor. Cherishing a home is many things to many people and the neighborhood, in all its vagaries, is assumed to be free of radical changes and fosters a desire to hold and protect all that is current.
It’s difficult to believe that increasing traffic on Scarborough’s Eastern Road is for the common good any more than a one-way section on the Black Point Road is efficient.
Progress is sometimes confusing at best.
Along the coast, opposition thus far to the construction of an LNG terminal has prevented that inclusion. Again, the cry of citizenry has been heard.
I once saw my hometown propose a lenient form of zoning where none existed. The opposition was instantaneous and vociferous, so overwhelming that the proposal was dropped. No matter the need for awareness of future options, community input is needed.
Contemplation of a one-way section on the Black Point Road has thus far raised the ire of residents concerned. If this is an effort to relieve traffic pressure on Route 1 then why make people residing along the Black Point Road pay for commercial development continuing along Route 1? Progress in all its glowing promise of the future is not always appealing to those inconvenienced by implementation.
Eastern Road, the straight-as-an arrow street on the route of a former trolley line, is home to several condominiums and a series of well-defined neighborhoods. An excellent spot for runners, dog walkers, health walkers, walkers for the exercise of it and young children learning to ride their new bikes, the street is posted at 25 mph and residents throughout are adamant in their support of the speed limit.
Within the parameters of changes proposed here there’s no mention of the present traffic hazard caused by a roundabout at the confluence of access roads to the condominiums of Teal Point, Stratton Woods II and Whistlers Landing. A surge of daily traffic here would exacerbate current hazards.
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