The Maine Department of Transportation, the town of Scarborough and developers of The Downs are planning road maintenance, intersection improvements and safety upgrades in the northern portion of town this summer.
The town will be responsible for adding mast arms and a left turn lane on Saco Street at Gorham Road (Route 114) and grading and drainage improvements at the intersection of Saco Street and County Road (Route 22). Meanwhile, The Downs is responsible for extending merge lanes on Route 22 to accommodate their anticipated traffic impacts. They will also add adaptive traffic signals to the Saco Street and Routes 22 and 114 intersections.
“These are intended to improve safety and rideability while making the existing infrastructure as efficient as possible,” Town Engineer Angela Blanchette wrote in an email to the Leader. “The project does not address any existing capacity issues on the North Scarborough corridors. However, there will be a short-term benefit until the predicted traffic volumes are observed.”
The town and The Downs project will cost nearly $2.3 million, with roughly $1.1 million of that coming from The Downs. The town’s $1.2 million portion will be covered by traffic impact fees from developers.
“It’s not tax dollars, it’s impact fees that we’re using here,” Town Manager Tom Hall told the Leader on Wednesday.
While drivers should see some benefits from the improvements, it’s not expected to solve the overarching traffic issues in northern Scarborough, Hall said.
“One could argue that this is likely to have a positive effect on the flow of traffic, but the fundamental issue is the volume of traffic,” he said. “None of this will noticeably ease that problem.”
The town has partnered with the Maine DOT and Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System on surface paving on Saco Street and Gorham Road, expected to take place next summer.
Separate from these projects, the DOT has sent letters to residents in northern Scarborough notifying them of work along Routes 22 and 114 expected to come in 2025. However, some residents were confused, Hall said, and thought this project had to do with the proposed Gorham Connector which has been the subject of heated public debate in recent months.
Blanchette emphasized the two are separate projects.
“DOT will be collecting survey information to assess the need for additional gravels or drainage infrastructure related to these roadways,” Blanchette said. “This DOT project currently has no construction funding allocated to it and is not associated with the (Gorham Connector) project or the town-funded projects.”
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