Traffic improvements along Old Orchard Beach halfway intersection and spur corridor under review

The scope of proposed traffic improvements to address the halfway intersection in Old Orchard Beach has expanded to include improving traffic measures along the I-195 spur and Ocean Park Road.

The halfway intersection is an atypical intersection at the crossroads of Saco Avenue, Ocean Park Avenue, Temple Avenue and Old Orchard Avenue. It’s been deemed a “high crash” intersection by the Maine Department of Transportation, and has been studied multiple times over the past 20 years.

A current study underway began in 2022 with the focus only on Old Orchard Beach. The study has since been expanded and includes the Halfway Intersection, but areas along the I-195 spur in Old Orchard Beach and Saco. The study is funded by Old Orchard Beach, Saco and the Maine Department of Transportation.

“It’s taken us a little while to get to where we’re at,” said Town Councilor Kenneth Blow at a town workshop Monday night. Blow said that he spearheaded conversations with Saco to expand the study to address traffic at the Saco intersection and to create a better flow of traffic entering Old Orchard Beach from the spur.

Multiple options are being reviewed that would make changes at the I-95 spur exit onto Route One in Saco, the intersection at Ocean Park and Smithwheel roads in Old Orchard Beach and the Halfway Intersection in Old Orchard Beach.

The proposals were discussed at Monday’s Town Council workshop with Don Ettinger of engineering company Gorrill Palmer and Marty Rooney from Maine DOT.

One proposed change would make the exit from the I-195 spur to Route One south in Saco a right turn only, and would eliminate the through traffic to Ocean Park Road from this exit. This area is another high crash area, said Ettinger and many crashes happen when people turning left from Ocean Park Road onto Route One collide into people coming off the highway too fast onto Ocean Park Road.

Because this would eliminate the option to get to the Saco stretch of Ocean Park Road from the current exit, either a traffic circle or an intersection with a traffic light would be created to give people the ability to turn right onto Ocean Park Road in Saco.

Down the road at the intersection of Smithwheel and Ocean Park roads, roadway changes have been suggested that would create a traffic light, and explore the possibility of aligning the campground entrance to the proposed traffic light.

The last area of suggested changes from study would create an intersection with a traffic signal at the Halfway Intersection.

Other changes have been proposed to accommodate side streets in the area of the three proposed intersection renovations.

“Whatever we do, there has to be clarity. Confusion is what’s creating problems,” said resident Marc Guimont, adding that there are a lot of visitors to town in the summer who are unfamiliar with the area. He said that people currently headed to town from the spur are asked to decrease their speed from 60 miles an hour to 35 miles an hour, but many are not decreasing their speed as required and are moving at a “fairly good clip.”

 Traffic needs to slow down in this area, said Guimont. He said he thought a signaled intersection would slow traffic, while a roundabout would create confusion.

Ettinger said that reducing confusion was one of the team’s top goals.

“The Halfway Intersection is confusing. It’s one of the most confusing intersections in the state. It’s very rare and unique,” he said.

Cost estimates have not been determined yet, according to Ettinger and Rooney. A final report is anticipated to be completed in October 2024. It could take four to six years from now for construction to begin on a project, should one get approved said Rooney.

To learn more about the study, a recording of the workshop can be viewed online.

Saco Bay News Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.