Consultants review downtown options
Staff photo/Kathy McCarty
TRAFFIC STUDY — John Melrose, marketing director and senior consultant with Eaton Peabody, at left, was joined by Thomas Gorrill, president of Gorrill-Palmer Consulting Engineers, Inc., for a presentation on the Presque Isle Transportation Planning Study during City Council’s Monday night meeting at City Hall. Pictured in back from left are: Council Chair Emily Smith, Deputy Chair Randy Smith and Councilors Jessica Chase Smith and Dick Engels.
PRESQUE ISLE — Consultants with Eaton Peabody and Gorrill-Palmer Consulting Engineers, Inc., were on hand Monday for a special meeting to update city officials on the Presque Isle Transportation Planning Study, providing details of how traffic and pedestrians would be impacted should various changes be made to address vehicle movement downtown.
John Melrose, marketing director and senior consultant with Eaton Peabody, was joined by Thomas Gorrill, president of Gorrill-Palmer, for a presentation that lasted about an hour. Also present were all seven city councilors, City Manager Jim Bennett, several city department heads, members of the Downtown Revitalization Committee and business leaders.
The purpose of the study, according to Melrose, is to: improve the pedestrian experience, enhance the value of existing businesses and attractions, alter land-use patterns to attract and support new investment and accommodate the location of a new community center.
Of nine possible options, Melrose and Gorrill narrowed the list to three. Those included keeping the status quo (no change to streets, street lanes and no bypass); going to three lanes on Main Street, extending Academy and including a partial bypass into the plan; and a three-lane Main Street without the bypass, with Melrose noting the first two possibilities were the favored options.
“We had a hiatus in the project following public input in the fall. The community pulled back and the Council, community and Planning Board had a chance to look at what you wanted. Tonight we’ll get into the results and findings, and leave you (councilors) in a place you can take it from there,” said Melrose.
Melrose said “first and foremost is to improve pedestrian safety downtown, as well as access. We’ll also look at altering land-use patterns and ways to support new investment — assist in redevelopment of city property to compliment and expand upon downtown offerings, and maximize opportunities as Aroostook’s premier commerce center.”
“Presque Isle is in an enviable position,” Melrose said. “The downtown is unique in that it has a ‘do-over’ ability due to land available for development.”
Melrose reviewed the three alternatives, explaining how each would affect traffic and pedestrian safety. He indicated extending Academy Street to Riverside would result in re-routing Chapman to connect to Riverside also and making it no longer a through street and the light would no longer be needed at the Catholic Church. Reference was made to work with a landscape architect to possibly convert the section of street between the church and Eagle Hill Stamp & Coin into a pedestrian park to further enhance downtown.
Gorrill shared a computer-generated image that incorporated an extended Academy Street and three-lane Main Street, showing how the traffic would flow, with a middle lane designated for turning vehicles.
Melrose explained how the model incorporated a “road diet,” whereby motorists were forced to slow down with the three-lane street, compared to the existing four lanes.
The status of the proposed bypass was also discussed.
“The Army Corps of Engineers have written a draft for review by regional counterparts with their preferred alternative (Conant to Maysville connector). If everything is in place, in a week or so you might get the news on that — then set the clock of five to eight months for the federal highway decision. It would be 2014 before construction would begin,” said Melrose.
The consultants indicated if the connector is built, approximately 500 vehicles a day — or about 12 percent of a day’s traffic — would be re-routed away from downtown.
“To summarize some of the numbers and changes, there’d be a 12-15 percent reduction of traffic on Main Street with the opening of the bypass,” said Bennett.
Patty LeBlanc, a member of the DRC, said Academy Street was extremely busy Monday and questioned the accuracy of the model displayed. Gorrill said it was not meant as an example of the “worst hour.”
“We tried to approximate to 30th highest hour in the year, using a bell curve. This doesn’t represent the worst you’ve seen,” said Gorrill.
Talk continued on the possible methods to pay for changes and aiding displaced businesses, including federal and state funding. Melrose said the city has considerable property holdings in the heart of town and given the proximity to the Presque Isle Stream, is well situated for potential future business growth in the downtown as a result.
“From an expectation standpoint, it’s a big policy issue for the community. We expect over the next two to four months’ timeframe to flesh out more information, get a financial analysis done and additional information. I don’t expect or encourage you to make any quick decisions — take some time to really deliberate. This just gives you some traffic impact pieces,” said Bennett.
“This report’s telling you, regardless of the three alternatives you pick, the bypass has some functionality and improves downtown,” Bennett said.
Bennett said he’d obtained word recently that the Army Corps was making progress on the connector.
“This is what we know about the bypass — found out Friday the local Army Corps has sent to regional office their draft of what’s least environmentally damaging and the most practical alternative. Once their regional office reviews it — whether it has to go nationally or not, once the Army Corps releases their finding, at that point the federal highway has eight months for the process of hearings, etc., before it can move to the permitting/construction stage,” said Bennett, noting the government has “enough money in pocket to buy the entire stretch — Conant section — and begin building in 2014.”
“We’ll have a good idea within the next four to eight months if that project’s moving ahead,” said Bennett. “This isn’t an either/or, black or white decision. There are a lot of parts to this.”
A question-and-answer period followed, with councilors taking comments into consideration and planning to continue discussion of the matter at a later date.
Council’s next regularly scheduled meeting will take place on Monday, July 9, at 6 p.m. at City Hall. The public is welcome and encouraged to participate. For more information, call 760-2785 or visit www.presqueisle.govoffice2.com.
