FARMINGTON – A Maine Department of Transportation proposal to go from four travel lanes to two travel lanes and a turning lane for approximately 3 miles of the Wilton Road will be discussed at a meeting scheduled for March 17. The public is welcome to attend and provide input.
The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17 at the Farmington Community Center, with MDOT officials presenting the findings of a traffic study and maps detailing the proposed pattern change. The proposal was previously brought before the town’s Transportation Advisory Committee last week.
MDOT is focusing on 2.83 miles of the Wilton Road, stretching between Franklin Memorial Hospital to Oakes Street, near Center Bridge. In an effort to reduce the number of crashes along the road, MDOT is proposing going from four lanes to three, with the central lane designated as turn-only for both north- and southbound traffic.
Concerns with traffic safety led to MDOT conducting a safety study, which tracked the number of collisions over a 3-year period. In making their recommendation, MDOT officials told the Transportation Advisory Committee Thursday evening, the department weighed the additional “mobility user” cost associated with slowing traffic along the 2.83 miles of highway against the “safety user” cost associated with hundreds of crashes between 2011 and 2013.
MDOT tracked a total of 158 crashes along that section, with 36 of them occurring in the five-lane section between Walmart and the hospital and the remainder occurring between Walmart and Bridge Street. Typical collisions included rear-end crashes due to vehicles stopping in a travel lane to turn, vehicles changing lanes and vehicles colliding while traveling at different speeds. So called “angle crashes,” caused by vehicles attempting to cross four lanes at intersections or turning left across two lanes, were also common.
A total of 59 injuries resulted from crashes within the four-lane section of the study. Slightly more than half of crashes within that section were at driveways, with slightly less than half of the total injuries caused by collisions. MDOT calculated that the total costs associated with injuries was $2.69 million over the 3-year period, with 44 percent of that cost incurred in driveway crashes.
The MDOT’s mobility cost is calculated by developing a baseline travel time for vehicles passing through the impacted portion of the Wilton Road, then using that baseline to project how much the reduction in the number of travel lanes would affect motorists. MDOT counted an average of 15,000 to 17,000 motorists utilizing at least part of that 3-mile section daily, varying due to motorists turning off or on the Wilton Road at various points.
MDOT’s study indicates that the average motorist would travel 2 mph slower between Bridge Street and the hospital, a 20-second increase in travel time. Utilizing the traffic count, the speed differential and the MDOT’s mobility user costs of $10 per hour for vehicles and $39 per hour for commercial trucks, MDOT says that the total additional cost associated with the change would be $101,700 annually.
That figure is then applied against the money MDOT projects will be saved through a reduction in the number of crashes. The MDOT provided calculations which assume a 19 percent, a 29 percent and a 47 percent reduction in the number of collisions; the 29 percent reduction would yield a safety savings of $260,100 annually. After subtracting the mobility cost for the slightly slower-moving traffic, MDOT is calculating the net annual user benefit at $158,400 annually.
The road could be modified as part of a $2.9 million road construction project scheduled for 2016 or 2017.
The MDOT calculations and maps showing the proposed alterations will be presented at the March 17 meeting.
