Oak Hill intersection improvements debated

By Zack Anchors
Staff writer
     The town of Scarborough has two approaches it can take toward improving the high-crash Oak Hill intersection where Route One meets Gorham Road and Black Point Road, traffic engineer Tom Gorrill told the Town Council last Wednesday. The town can do nothing or it can restructure the intersection so that Gorham and Black Point Roads are wider and contain islands to control traffic flow.
    If the town does nothing, Gorrill said, the intersection would continue to cause collisions and the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) may eventually take action themselves to prevent the intersection's level of service from deteriorating further. If the town does restructure the intersection, Gorrill said, it would be safer and more efficient – but only for about ten years, after which it would again offer the same level of service it provides now, according to traffic studies.
    The changes to the Oak Hill intersection Gorrill was addressing are part of a much broader traffic improvement plan the town of Scarborough has been piecing together for years. The other major traffic improvement project up for consideration relates to the Dunstan Corner area, but at the council workshop last Wednesday the focus was strictly on Oak Hill. Gorrill, along with MDOT representative Randy Dunton, presented the latest proposed alternative for traffic improvements in Oak Hill. Town Manager Ron Owens told the council that they should keep in mind that the proposed improvements are not just intended to fix traffic problems in a certain part of town, but are meant to be part of a larger process of implementing the town's comprehensive plan and building more walkable, centralized town centers.
    "These are improvements that are essential to what we've defined in the comprehensive plan," said Owens.
    The major changes currently being proposed for the intersection consist of adding more left-turn lanes to Black Point and Gorham Roads and adding an island on both roads that extends from the intersection back several hundred feet. Previously, the islands were designed with trees and vegetation, but the plans were reworked due to the impact the island would have on residents and businesses along the roads that would no longer be able to exit and enter onto the road in the same ways. The new design includes an island that is partially raised, preventing traffic from turning in places where accidents are likely to occur, and flush further back from the intersection, allowing safer turns on and off the road to be made.
    "The island is kind of non-traditional, but we think it could work," said Gorril.
    The new island design addressed one of the major concerns of Councilor Carol Rancourt, who had requested the workshop, but solving the matter of access to the road for neighbors was only one reason she gave for being skeptical of the plan.
    "This is really only a temporary fix. This is not going to be the end of this," said Rancourt. "What happens next? Is Black Point Road going to be another Route One?"
    Rancourt and other councilors were also concerned about the potential costs of the project and how much land from neighboring property owners would need to be taken to widen the roads. Owens said the town could likely minimize the amount of land that would need to be used on the southern side of the road, where there are several homes, and instead take land from the mostly undeveloped northern side.