Skowhegan board to review traffic study Two-way downtown plan has mixed responses; Commissioner: ‘Change is hard’

SKOWHEGAN – Selectmen expect to receive a report Tuesday that may prompt as many questions as it provides answers.

Skowhegan Traffic Task Force Chairman William Sylvain said Friday that the committee’s recommendations will remain confidential until the report is handed to the Board of Selectmen, but he added that the committee was “pretty much split” on the issue of two-way traffic in the downtown area.

The task force is made up of community and business leaders in Skowhegan.

For tourists, shoppers or traveling business people, Skowhegan’s flatiron downtown district can be challenging.

Road Commissioner Gregory Dore said Friday that a bevy of studies in the past all advised that a two-way flow would slow traffic, thereby helping to revitalize the area.

In past years, proposals for changing the flow were linked to money.

“We just didn’t have the funding,” Dore said. “But a year ago, the Maine Department of Transportation offered us a $200,000 set of lights.”

The problem is that the flatiron district, which originated 51 years ago to get traffic through a narrow downtown quickly, carries two major routes: U.S. routes 2, east and west, and 201, north and south. The result is a clogged downtown, which benefits no one, including businesses and drivers.

State statistics show that a traffic load of 7,000 vehicles a day in 1955 has tripled to 21,000 a day in 2005. On a state traffic flow scale ranked from A to F, with A representing the best flow and F the worst flow, Skowhegan ranks at D.

Dore said there was strong opposition to the two-way plan at a recent public hearing. “Change is hard,” he said.

The proposal would change traffic to two-way on all three sides of the flatiron district: on Madison Avenue, Water Street and Commercial Street. A new traffic light would be installed at the intersection of Commercial Street and Madison Avenue.

There would be new parking spaces, and pedestrian crossing lights would be placed at the centers of Water and Commercial streets.

The selectmen’s meeting at which they will hear the task force recommendations will be held at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 27, in the municipal building.

The selectmen also will hear an update of the town’s revaluation by assessor Bill Van Tuinen and the Board of Assessors.

In other business, the selectmen will:

. Vote on two victualler’s licenses, taxi drivers’ licenses and permits, a pawnbroker’s license and a liquor license.

. Vote on a micro-loan request for $5,000 for Bikes and Board.

. Act on the nomination of Daniel Adams as permanent fire chief.

. Vote on accepting $1,211.50 in drug forfeiture funds.

. Clarify procedures for granting poverty abatements.

. Make annual appointments to various councils and committees, police department, planning board and other positions.