Skip Global State Navigation Maine.gov State Agencies | Web Policies | My Maine.gov | Email this page
Go!
Gateway 1
spacer

Gateway 1 Update
Email List
Enter your email address to join. Choose "unsubscribe" to stop receiving updates.

Your email:

subscribe unsubscribe

Maine DOT Help Center
Frequently Asked Questions

What is Gateway 1?

Gateway 1 is a long-term strategic planning process created to preserve both transportation capacity and the quality of life along Route 1. Initiated early in 2004, Gateway 1 has been developed in partnership between MaineDOT and the towns on the Route 1 Corridor from Brunswick to Prospect.

Why Midcoast Route 1?

Midcoast Route 1 is combination of small, traditional New England towns and cities, rural countryside, and vistas to coastal waters and inland hills, all of which create a unique and valuable character. Throughout this 100-mile stretch, Route 1 is called upon to serve many roles, from major thruway to Main Street to commuter route.

These roles sometimes conflict with each other, and over the last 15 years, as traffic, population growth, commercial development and residential sprawl have increased, the conflicts have increased in frequency and intensity.

Gateway 1 is MaineDOT's response to concerns from residents and travelers in the Midcoast who believe that Route 1 is changing too quickly and for the worse.

Those citizens wanted MaineDOT to take a comprehensive look at this 100 mile transportation corridor, to think through the relationship of land use activities with all modes of transportation and to do so in collaboration with municipalities and regional interest groups. This approach would be different from the traditional way MaineDOT took action. Instead of focusing on transportation solutions exclusively and one problem at a time, the effort would attempt to get at the root causes of the transportation problems, link them to land use trends if possible, and develop and collaborate decision-making structure to arrive at and implement solutions.

What will Gateway 1 accomplish?

Gateway 1 will provide these communities and MaineDOT with a long-term plan and a process for coordinating land use and transportation decisions so that they work with, rather than against, each other. As part of the process, Gateway 1 has collected data on each town's land use and transportation needs, as well as the community values that drive planning decisions. This long-term plan will make it possible for MaineDOT to apportion transportation funds in a way that enhances quality of life and allows economic development for each town and the region as a whole.

What is the benefit of Gateway 1 to Corridor towns?

This is an opportunity to proactively plan for growth along the Corridor. Gateway 1 will allow communities and the MaineDOT to take a step back, look at the corridor as a whole and evaluate where they want to be in 20 to 30 years. This will make it possible to agree on the appropriate land use policies and transportation facilities in support of these goals. MaineDOT has engaged HNTB, a nationally respected transportation and land use planning firm, to consult on Gateway 1.

How will a town's existing comprehensive plan fit into Gateway 1?

Comprehensive plans and other data from each town will be an integral part of the information collected to put together a regional assessment of land use and transportation needs and issues along the Corridor. Because comprehensive plans are used by each town to manage growth locally, the plans' policies will both influence and ultimately be influenced by the direction of Gateway 1.

What kinds of projects will be funded under Gateway 1?

Gateway 1 does not include the funding for implementation of projects. It will provide a framework for developing, setting priorities for and identifying necessary funding for future transportation projects and land use initiatives in the Corridor.

How will Gateway 1 be funded?

Gateway 1 will be funded through a mix of federal and state dollars. Phase 1 of Gateway 1, which ended in March of 2005, was budgeted at $350,000. Phase 2A, scheduled to take two years, is estimated at $1.5 million, and includes a comprehensive update of planning data for the Corridor. Phase 2B is scheduled to begin in fall of 2007; the budget has been set at $1 million.

What other agencies are supporting Gateway 1?

The Federal Highway Administration and the Maine State Planning Office are both strong supporters of Gateway 1. Federal Highway dollars are providing approximately 80% of the funding for this landmark project.

What was accomplished in Phase 1?

In May and June 2004, the Project Team met with each of the Route 1 communities in a focus group format. Participants were asked to respond to an informal values, beliefs and attitudes survey used as a way to create dialogue about:

  • Safety and mobility on Route 1
  • Aesthetics and economic development
  • Local opinion on land use regulation
  • Home rule

Summaries of these community focus group summaries can be found on the Community Information section of this web site.

In June, July and August of 2004, the Project Team collected available data relevant to Route 1, including traffic counts and forecasts, high crash locations, pending capital improvement needs, recent transportation studies and state/local agreements, local comprehensive plans and land use ordinances.

Five separate town/city groupings were created with input from the focus group discussions. In October, November, and December, 2004, the Project Team presented what they had heard as the major issues from each community at five regionally-based public meetings in the Route 1 corridor.

These issues were used to draft an individualized Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for each community. The Project Team presented this MOU to each community's governing board (Selectmen or City Council) for their approval in January, February and March of 2005.

All 21 towns signed the MOU and agreed to work with the MaineDOT to complete a regional comprehensive land use and transportation plan.

The MOU is available under Background Information. Each community's top issues can be viewed in the Community Information section.

What is Phase 2A of Gateway 1?

In Phase 2A, which began in summer of 2005, comprehensive travel and land use data was updated, including full mapping of all interrelated Corridor uses (land use, utilities, historical, cultural, archeological, natural/physical resources, etc.). A travel demand model will be available Fall 2007, high crash locations have been mapped, and all other relevant information to aid the Planning Team and communities in identifying underlying problems and proposing the best solutions have been compiled.

Another critically important aspect of Phase 2A has been working with the communities to understand the underlying values and goals held by stakeholders up and down the Corridor, along with assessing cause and effect data. This information has been used to develop alternative scenarios for the Corridor, based on a range of economic and population growth changes. These scenarios will help Corridor communities to clearly understand how specific planning choices could affect their town in the future and help them develop a plan to support whichever scenario they find most in tune with their values and goals.

A complete and detailed description of all the tasks being completed as part of Phase 2A can be found in the Phase 2 Scope.

Phase 2A has been completed. In Phase 2B, a comprehensive long-term Corridor-wide land use and transportation plan will be developed, along with recommendations on how communities could collaborate to implement the plan over the long term.

What exactly are these computer models you keep talking about?

The FACET computer model is a land use tool, designed to identify the most likely locations where growth will occur. By taking into account (for example), zoning, size of parcel, adjacency to high-traffic roadway, adjacency to conservation district or water, slope of land, or mapped wetlands, we can logically predict the places where new residential or commercial development is most likely to happen in each community over the next 25 years. Why? Because it is almost always the choicest and best places (most advantageous commercial, most marketable residential) where development goes first. The Study Team has developed a list of 50 criteria in eight categories that give credibility to these projections.

The other piece of the computer model is the traffic demand model, which uses the same population, housing and employment projections used in the Facet model to predict where, how often and in what numbers people will be using Midcoast roads in 25 years.

Together, these two things give us a very good idea of what the Midcoast will look like in 2030.