Racino firm seeks traffic permit State to study off-site improvements required for new facility

BANGOR – The developer of a proposed $70 million-plus gambling complex is applying for a state traffic movement permit, one of several local and state approvals it will need as it gears up to build a home for up to 1,500 slot machines.

Penn National Gaming Inc. opened a temporary facility called Hollywood Slots at Bangor in November. It houses 475 slot machines at the former Miller’s Restaurant on Main Street.

In the meantime, the Pennsylvania-based racing and gaming corporation has been working toward building a permanent facility of the same name just down the street, at the so-called Riverside Block, which encompasses the land between Lincoln and Dutton streets from Main Street to the railroad tracks. The new facility is slated to open in 2008.

The permit application process will result in a traffic study that, in turn, will determine what off-site improvements will be needed to accommodate the new traffic that the permanent gambling complex is expected to generate, according to Victor Smith, division traffic engineer for the Maine Department of Transportation’s regional office in Bangor.

Smith said the application will be the subject of a public scoping meeting to be held in about a month.

“I believe, from lots of points of view, that some off-site improvements will be needed,” Smith said.

Off-site improvements could include the construction of an additional lane of roadway, the addition of traffic signals and other measures.

The costs for such work typically are borne by the developer, he said.

In the application, traffic consultant Tom Gorrill of Gray, a member of Penn’s project team, projects that the permanent facility will generate as many as 424 “trip ends,” or one-way trips in or out of the facility, during the evening peak hour. During the Saturday peak hour, as many as 772 trip ends are anticipated.

The projections are based on traffic counts taken at another Penn National facility, Charles Town Races & Slots in West Virginia.

In addition, a sketch of the project included with the application shows three points of access to the property from Main Street, namely at Dutton, Buck and Lincoln streets. The Buck Street access point would be enter only.

During a recent visit to Bangor, Penn National corporate officials confirmed that they were paying about $7 million for the roughly 9-acre parcel, which has housed two hotels for the last several decades.

The properties, across the street from Bass Park and Bangor Raceway, are among the few commercially zoned properties large enough to accommodate Penn’s project and within the 2,000-foot radius of Bangor Raceway allowed by state law.

One of the hotels, the Main Street Inn, was razed last month. The other, the Holiday Inn-Civic Center, will remain open until later this year, Hollywood Slots officials confirmed earlier.

Proposed are a 130,000-square-foot gaming facility, restaurant and retail space, a four-level parking garage for 1,500 vehicles, surface parking and access drives, among other things.

Penn’s off-track betting operation, now located in the grandstand at Bangor Raceway, also will be housed in the new facility.

Smith noted last week that the traffic permit application is the second to be submitted by Penn National subsidiary Bangor Historic Track Inc.

The first application, which was withdrawn, sought a traffic permit for Bass Park, where the racino originally was to have been located.

The move across Main Street came at the request of city officials, who wanted to continue using parking space at Bass Park for such events as the Bangor State Fair and The American Folk Festival, as well as for concerts, shows and other large gatherings held there.

The DOT is seeking written comment on the application, which can be seen at its offices on Hogan Road.

Comments should be sent to: Attention Regional Traffic Engineer, Department of Transportation, Region 4 Office, P.O. Box 1208, Bangor 04402.