A. Issues Common to Multiple Municipalities

A number of issues identified during Phase 1 of the study are common to multiple municipalities in the corridor. These issues and the methods for examining them will be articulated in the scope of services for Phase 2, consistent with the outline of work attached to this MOU. Issues prominently identified by at least one-third of the municipalities include:

• Speeding, including:
• setting, visibly posting, and enforcing speed limits
• speed limits that are thought to be too high near built-up sections of some towns
• Protecting the capacity, image, aesthetics, and open spaces of the Route 1 corridor
• At the same time, recognizing and planning for the need to increase property tax base through growth along Route 1
• Safety, including
• traffic safety at identified intersections and along identified segments of Route 1
• the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists
• the impact of multiple curb cuts from strip development along Route 1
• Lack of communication/cooperation among municipalities in
• land use decisions that affect more than one municipality
• resolving transportation issues that affect more than one municipality
• Noise and safety problems associated with truck traffic and lack of appropriate (vs. de-facto) alternate freight routes
• The need to protect and strengthen the viability and character of downtowns
• Potential for bus, rail, and multi-use path alternatives; and for promoting the use of under-used transportation facilities to help relieve over-used facilities
• Traffic congestion, where it:
• diverts traffic onto local residential or secondary roads in order to bypass the congestion, and
• directly or indirectly affects many communities, as with the Wiscasset bottleneck
• Conflicts that arise as the result of:
• competing goals, particularly MaineDOT's goal of safe, free-flowing traffic along Route 1 versus local goals relating to quality of life,
• inadequate mechanisms for communications between Maine DOT and communities, and
• inadequate communications and interactions between MaineDOT and communities and sometimes private developers when making design decisions for transportation or land use projects.

B. Issues of High Priority to the Municipality

In Phase 2 of the Strategic Plan, MaineDOT will evaluate and respond to the following issues identified as high priorities by the TOWN OF WOOLWICH:

• Speeding off the Sagadahoc Bridge into Woolwich, and along the built-up part of Route 1 (which divides the town), making left-hand turns and the crossing of Route 1 (whether by vehicle or on foot) difficult and unsafe;
• Inability to enforce speed limits;
• Traffic safety at, with particular concern for left-hand turns out of, the intersections of Route 1 and Route 127, Nequasset Rd., George Wright Rd., and in the segment of Route 1 near the Montsweag Flea Market;
• Need for improved pedestrian and bicycle safety along Route 1;
• Lack of access to portions of Route 1 for economic development, and the related pressures to increase the local tax base to keep property taxes down;
• Uncertainty about whether and how Route 1 in Woolwich should be developed in the future;
• Effects on Woolwich of traffic congestion in neighboring communities.