About 40 Orland residents gathered in the town’s community center Thursday to ask questions and air their concerns about the Maine Department of Transportation’s plans to install traffic lights at a dangerous intersection on U.S. Route 1.
The department has proposed installing three-light traffic signals in place of the blinking yellow lights that currently hang over Route 1 where it intersects with School House and Upper Falls roads. The two intersecting roads at the crest of a hill — which face each other — currently have stop signs approaching the highway.
Many residents said Thursday they want to see a roundabout installed instead of traffic lights and described increasingly dangerous conditions as the long-problematic intersection sees more traffic. But the roundabout could cost about $4 million, compared to a $500k signal project, and state analysis says the effect wouldn’t be much different.
“It’s where we’re at right now,” project manager Aurele Gorneau told the crowd of the signal plans Thursday. “We just don’t have the funding to do [a roundabout].”
The traffic signals could be installed by next spring, whereas designing a roundabout — and finding funding for it — could push the project out for years, according to Gorneau.
Specific traffic details will be developed later in the design process, he said, but the department plans to replace the hanging lights with five utility poles. Following online public comment received before the meeting, it’s also considering adding warning signals ahead of the intersection to make drivers aware a red light is ahead, along with other safety suggestions.
The public hearing was held in person at the town’s request after an online comment period that opened last month. Most speakers said they wanted a roundabout. A few said they saw no perfect solution, recalling concerns about the intersection when Route 1 was constructed there in the 1960s.
One speaker, who didn’t give her name, said through tears that she and her son were in a crash at that intersection last year and are still recovering. A traffic light there would have made a difference for her, she said.
“There’s no way that it would be perfect, but we have got to do something, because people are really getting hurt,” she said.
Based on crash data, the intersection has consistently been a “high crash location” by department standards since 2005, according to Gorneau. It’s been the site of 22 crashes in the last two years alone, he said.
Increasing traffic has also raised concerns recently in neighboring Bucksport, where tourist season travel can cause southbound backups over the town line into Orland. The DOT plans to install a “smart” light there in the coming years to help alleviate that flow. The new lights in Orland would have technology allowing them to respond to traffic conditions and let cars through, Gorneau said.
