Findings of North Windham Moves traffic study unveiled

Results of a new traffic study in North Windham resulted
in a number of recommendations to improve congestion
including reconfiguring lanes, signal modifications, creating
new bike and pedestrian access, and creating new connector
roads in the area. PHOTO BY ED PIERCE  

By Collette Hayes

The Town of Windham teamed up with planners Don Ettinger of Gorrill-Palmer and Ben Smith of North Star Planning to share and discuss preliminary recommendations from the North Windham Moves Transportation Study with the public on Sept. 29.

The primary need for the study was to improve local and regional transportation mobility in the North Windham downtown district. Three areas were considered in the study including creation of new local connector roads, access management, and corridor and intersection improvements.

The Maine Department of Transportation, as part of a Planning Partnership Initiative, contracted with Gorrill-Palmer Consulting Engineers to undertake the North Windham Moves Transportation Study. The study which was conducted complemented previous planning efforts including the North Windham 21st Century Downtown Plan and evaluated potential improvement strategies to improve congestion and safety along the Route 302 corridor.

After reviewing the study, preliminary findings were presented and discussed at a public Zoom Meeting on Sept. 29 and those recommendations included changes to lane configuration, additions to the roadway grid, traffic demand management, traffic signal modifications, bicycle and pedestrian access, and the impacts of proposed improvements to the level of service and safety.
The area studied currently lacks local accessibility to the properties just off Route 302 and Route 115 and Route 35 and suffer from operational challenges including heavy traffic and low levels of service during peak travel times. Incomplete facilities make travel on foot or bicycle unattractive and unsafe options.

“When people think of Windham, they by and large are thinking of North Windham. If Windham is the gateway to the Lakes Region, then North Windham is really the front door,” said Smith. “It is one of the first impressions and often times the only impression people experience of Windham. Unfortunately, due to a number of concerns, this area isn’t a place where people choose to spend a lot of leisure time or free time. The transportation system in Windham is a system of roads that does not work for everybody. It is a very car dependent place. There is not a diversity of streets that people can choose to get around to do their daily errands nor is there a complete sidewalk network.”

According to Smith, the preliminary recommendations fall into three categories or types: The missing middle of road network, Route 302 regional mobility, and community development goals.

“Different types of roads have different types of jobs,” Smith said. “There are Interstate systems and at the other end of the scale there are local streets that provide access to business and homes. Also included are a number of streets that are in between, North Windham is very reliant on arterials and major streets as well as on parking lot aisles, formal cut-throughs and private roads. There is not a lot to support the types and scale of traffic found in North Windham.”

The preliminary recommendation is to build local connector roads. The idea is to build a parallel street network that isn’t necessarily a state road, but which can elevate traffic flow and allow commuters to get quickly from one place to another and avoid busy intersections. All three connector roads will include sidewalks and have a multiuse paved path.

The logistics of the east, west and middle connector roads is explained in detail on the Windham town website.

“Past studies have called for filling out the local street networks and building roads within parking lots. We are prioritizing these ideas with the twist that the effort is to focus on some of the existing access ways that already exist rather than trying to lay out a conceptual street network in real life,” said Smith. “When thinking about existing access ways the most important ones are those that connect route 302 with the local connector roads. There are other connections and other types of improvements that we are including in our preliminary recommendations that have to do with connections from residential areas on the periphery of North Windham that thoughtfully and safely connect to the larger system.”

The preliminary recommendations include incorporation of traffic signals to make intersections run more effectively and efficiently. Windham has funds available to do sidewalk improvement and lighting on 302.

“We are recommending wherever there are not sidewalks on both sides of Route 302 and crosswalks, that they be added, said Ettinger. “Center medians and center turn lanes will also be installed to alleviate accidents. Access management is a common theme from former studies through the Route 302 corridor. We are making recommendations for closing, reducing, or consolidating driving areas.”

The projected costs run about $6 to $8 million. The Town of Windham has taken a very proactive role to demonstrate to the state that these improvements will benefit the state road networks so the state can see the benefit of contributing to the funding.

“The focus of the planning study was to look at three different connector roads. All of them provide operational mobility and safety improvements. All provide better improvements in a no build scenario,” Ettinger said. “All three will be recommended in the study. Route 302 short term and long-term recommendations will be fine-tuned. Next steps are to get feedback from the public and to publish all of the preliminary recommendations and findings on the Windham website.”

He said drafting up the report should be finalized later this year.

“Our strategy is this will be the last study to address these concerns. These issues have been studied for the last 20 years. We want to start designing and implementing solutions,” Ettinger said.

For questions about the study and preliminary recommendations call 207-894-5960, Ext. 2

The complete Zoom Presentation can be found at www.windhammaine.us/728/North-Windham-Moves <