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LATEST
NEWS (primarily about R.O.A.D. actions, and non-press covered other
activities)
16 February 2010. R.O.A.D. Submits "Comments" to Army Corps of Engineers. R.O.A.D. member, Dan Sortwell, also submitted "Comments"
Among other good points, Dan noted that traffic data needs to be accurate. He wrote,
"MaineDOT assumed a 1.5% annual increase in traffic volume and used that to project the traffic volume in 2030 from their 2000 model4. However, as shown in the graph below, national traffic volume actually dropped in 2008 and then rose only slightly in 2009. My own impression is that traffic volume through Wiscasset also dropped during 2008-2009, in line with the national trend.
One of the goals of the Wiscasset Traveler Information System (WTIS), put in place by MaineDOT, was to report on traffic volume for the 2009 summer season5. This report should be out by May, 20106. I would recommend that the LEDPA determination be delayed until MaineDOT changes their traffic volume projections for 2030 (p.14 of the USACE public notice) to reflect actual traffic data from 2009."
2 January 2010. "Public asked to participate in Wiscasset Bypass public process "
AUGUSTA – The Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has announced it is accepting public comments on the three final choices for a bypass route around Wiscasset’s downtown.
Comments will be accepted by the USACE through February 19, 2010 and can be emailed to Jay Clement at jay.l.clement@usace.army.mil or mailed to him at:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Maine Project Office
675 Western Avenue, #3 Manchester, Maine 04351.
4 July 2009. Webcams
and radar monitors are LIVE at the Wiscasset and Edgecomb ends of
the Wiscasset Corridor. Click on Webcams/Radar
and then click on the device to be monitored.
13
September 2008. Steve Cartright of Waldoboro writes LETTER
to Kat Fuller, Chief Planner of MDOT re: Bypass and need for comprehensive
solution to Route 1 congestion.
The letter
begins...
The congestion
in Wiscasset is greatly exaggerated. I drive this road frequently
and very seldom have to wait very long. If you relocated Red's Eats,
a lot of the summer tie-ups would be reduced. It's crazy to let
one, ho-hum food stand create major traffic flow problems. The traffic
back-up at Wiscasset pales compared to traffic jams on Route 128
around Boston, or even Western Avenue and Route 202 to Manchester,
which I know has been an MDOT headache for years. The problem isn't
lack of roads, it's our pattern of one-person-per-car commuting
and our impatience at even a five-minute delay in our daily drive....
10
June 2008. By-Pass Task Force sees progress on four "Alternatives"
to By-pass
1.
Install cameras to provide web based traffic information that
will tie in with variable message signs.
2. Install changeable message signs at I-295 Brunswick mile
marker 25 exit saying there is congestion in Wiscasset so that people
can stay on 295 rather than taking the coastal route. This is expected
to be up and running by June 16th.
3 A message sign installed 500 feet west of Route 27 at Boothbay
exit to provide advance warning to motorists heading south that
there is congestion and they need to be prepared to stop. This
is supposed to be activated Labor Day.
4. They expect to have the cost estimate for an underground
pedestrian walkway available by June 30th.
See full
MDOP report of "Interim
Treatments Action Plan"
7 June
2008. R.O.A.D. Co-Chair, Morrison Bonpasse, sends
followup LETTER
to MDOT Commissioner, David Cole to urge MDOT to install Web cameras
at each end of the Wiscasset Traffic Zone and to install a web-connected
permanent traffic counter.
Bonpasse
wrote, "It's now the second week of June, and the seasonal
increase in traffic in Wiscasset is upon us, but I haven't heard
from you about the webcams or the traffic counter." [See
the earlier followup LETTER
of 30 April, and the initial DEIS feedback LETTER
to Commissioner Cole of 19 December 2007.]
28 January 2008.
R.O.A.D. was advised by D.O.T. Consultant, Carol Morris, that the
R.O.A.D. application to join the Task Force was turned down.
However, email communications to the Task Force will now be sent
to R.O.A.D. See Carol
Morris email
24 January 2008.
The Mid-Coast Bypass Task Force met in Edgecomb and discussed the
DEIS comments submitted to D.O.T. Also discussed was the R.O.A.D.
application to join the Task Force. D.O.T. prepared a SUMMARY
of the public's comments on the D.E.I.S.
18-19 January
2008. R.O.A.D. requests to join the Mid-Coast Bypass
Task Force in 18
January 2008 EMAIL to Carol Morris, Communications Consultant
for the Bypass project. She responded with an EMAIL
on the same day asking for information about R.O.A.D.
Morrison Bonpasse, for R.O.A.D. responded by EMAIL
on 19 January, and noted that R.O.A.D. has a website and is devoted
entirely to the issue of solving the seasonal Wiscasset traffic
problem.
21 December 2007.
R.O.A.D. submits DEIS
Comments to MDOT.
In addition to opposing the five MDOT proposed routes, R.O.A.D.
made three requests:
1. for a permanent counter to continuously monitor traffic volume
in Wiscasset.
2. for webcams to be established at either end of the SSZ (Seasonal
Slow Zone).
3. for an evaluation of the costs of building a pedestrian tunnel
or bridge in the vicinity of the
intersection of Route 1 and
the railroad.
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