Dunstan, Oak Hill traffic plans becoming clearer

By Lucas Knowles
Editor
    Town officials are continuing to narrow down what recommendations for upgrades to the Dunstan and Oak Hill intersections will be.
    At a Town Council workshop last week, officials were presented additional information on improvements to the Dunstan and Oak Hill intersections.
    Earlier this year, the council approved an impact fee for the Dunstan area of town. The impact fee will apply to new development within the Dunstan Corner Capital Improvements District, which encompasses the areas surrounding Route One and its intersections with Payne, Broadturn and Pine Point Roads.
    The Dunstan impact fee is designed to pay for one-third of traffic improvements in that area of town. The remaining portion would be paid for through tax increment financing (TIF) programs and state funding.
    The proposed changes for the Dunstan area include a relocation of Payne Road to a new intersection with Route One and the elimination of the traffic signal located at the current Payne Road/Route One intersection.
    At the meeting, officials proposed to the council that the best place for a new intersection of Payne Road and Route One would be midway between Milliken Road and the Dunstan School Restaurant. Members of the council asked town staff to study the possibility of moving that intersection further north on Route One and to find the cost of any wetlands mitigation or permitting that would be needed.
    An advisory committee charged with making recommendations on traffic improvements to the Oak Hill area of town has expressed its support of impact fee similar to the one being used in Dunstan, along with traffic improvements.
    A bypass road connecting Commerce Drive with Route One across from Hannaford Drive was considered a possibility by the Oak Hill traffic advisory committee. After a great deal of discussion, members of the council agreed to keep the possibility of construction of the northern part of that loop – from Black Point Road to Route One across from Hannaford Drive – in the long-term traffic plan for the area.
    Short-term improvements to the Oak Hill intersection that have been supported by town officials are construction additional turn lanes at the intersections of Black Point Road and Gorham Road with Route One, along with improved sidewalks and barriers.
    According to Assistant Town Planner Dan Bacon, said town officials believe the new impact fees will make a more level playing field for development and planning in town.
    “These impact fees are meant to codify the process and make it more equitable and fair,” Bacon said. “There is usually a burden on large developments, but the impact fees make it so that everybody has to pay their share.”
    When asked if any other local communities are using the same approach to development by instituting similar impact fees, Bacon said Scarborough’s approach is “progressive.”
    “Impact fees in Scarborough are being coupled with other funding sources, so that means less and less would come from the federal government,” Bacon said. “Since Scarborough is coming up with some of the money, it makes it that much more attractive for the state to find the rest.”