OXFORD — Black Bear Entertainment’s traffic consultant estimated there will be 4,000 one-way trips a day, on average, to the resort casino it plans to build on Route 26.

That’s the yearly average, according to Diane Morabito, owner of Maine Traffic Resources, so the figure will be higher on weekends and during the summer. It wouldn’t quite double traffic; a nearby traffic check registers about 5,980 passing cars a day.

The Maine Department of Transportation held a meeting Wednesday night to hear concerns from citizens about how the Black Bear casino might affect traffic on Route 26.

It’s proposed to be built in phases on a 100-acre parcel and at a total cost of $164 million.

Morabito said her traffic study came from a study of casinos nationwide, and that her estimate represented an average of traffic at similarly-sized casinos around the country. She said that during evening peak hours, there could be as many as 500 cars an hour on weekdays and 600 cars an hour on Saturdays.

Steve Landry, assistant state traffic enforcer for the MDOT, asked residents in attendance for input on safety issues on Route 26 from Gray north to Oxford, the area expected to see the largest impact in traffic. He said the study “phases out” at the northern intersection of routes 26 and 121.

“We like to have people telling us the little nuances of driving along the corridor,” Landry said. He said input on concerns would go into the final traffic study in deciding what additional provisions should be made to accommodate casino traffic.

Landry said the plans are still in preliminary stages, but a traffic light is likely at the casino intersection, as are turning lanes for both northbound and southbound traffic. In addition, traffic leaving the casino could get an acceleration lane, so cars can get up to the high speeds common to the Route 26 corridor.

“It’s not speed that causes crashes, it’s speed differentials,” Landry said. An island is also a possibility to separate northbound and southbound traffic and prevent head-on collisions.

Dennis Sanborn, a member of the Oxford Board of Selectmen, said a traffic light wouldn’t be necessary. He said they disrupt traffic flow, especially in the morning when children are going to school. Sanborn was also concerned about costs to the town in maintaining the traffic light.

Citizens raised concerns about visibility for cars turning onto Route 26 from Rabbit Valley Road, where a knoll often hides oncoming traffic.

Brian Keezer, regional traffic engineer with the MDOT, said the department will continue to hear concerns about the route until they issue a traffic permit to Black Bear Entertainment. Keezer said people can e-mail their concerns to Oxford Town Manager Michael Chammings or contact the MDOT directly.

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