Initial upgrades will take three or four years.
GREENE – Proposed improvements along Route 202 could eliminate several dangerous intersections, however, some of the proposals could run into roadblocks.
Joan Walton, a transportation planner for the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments, told the Board of Selectmen Monday night that the locations of several driveways and the alignments of intersections should be changed. Some property owners are not yet aware of the proposal.
Town Manager Stephen Eldridge said the town first considered improvements along the Route 202 corridor between Lewiston and Leeds about a year and a half ago. At that time, the Maine Department of Transportation made changes to traffic islands in an attempt to improve safety. Eldridge took recommendations to then MDOT Commissioner John Melrose and requested that MDOT work with AVCOG and the town to find ways to improve safety along Route 202.
Eldridge said the pilot program would be completed in phases over a period of at least three or four years. The entire project could take considerably longer.
“This program is a pilot program. It is a template for what they (MDOT) could do around the state,” Eldridge said.
Selectman Timothy Doyle asked Eldridge if business owners have been consulted about plans that could eliminate some driveways and change entrance locations for parking lots. The town manager said he has met with some merchants and has received favorable comments.
Walton’s proposal includes the following:
• Changing the locations of intersections at Daggett Hill Road and add cul-de-sacs at new dead ends.
• Relocating the Buzzell Lane intersection south of its current location.
• Reducing the speed limit from 50 to 35 miles-per-hour between the cemeteries and Maine Poly.
• Relocating the Morgan’s Auto Sales and IGA parking lot entrances off Route 202 onto West Main Street.
• Installing a traffic signal or four-way emergency blinking light at the intersection with Patton Road.
• Funneling traffic onto Patton Road.
• Purchasing property to widen a portion of Patton Road.
• Closing Allen Pond Road Extension.
“Planners at DOT have seen this. They have not made any commitments to these plans,” Walton said, adding that the state is considering it.
The map AVCOG prepared for the proposed project is available for public inspection at the town office.
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