Casino traffic biggest concern

OXFORD — Oxford town authorities are preparing to deal with the heavy influx of traffic expected on Route 26 when the new Oxford Casino opens in June.

"One of our biggest concerns right now, as far as public safety ... is not crime or anything else; its traffic flow going through there," Town Manager Michael Chammings said during the April 19 selectboard meeting.

He said that Oxford's emergency services would be particularly active in the area in the weeks following the casino's opening.

Additional patrols will assigned to the area of the casino in order to take stock of how much traffic can be expected, then will be reduced to normal levels when there is a better understanding of the situation.

Chammings said that a traffic light would be installed at the entrance of the casino on Rt. 26, but will only be a blinking yellow light, a fact that has raised some concerns among residents of the area.

According to Chammings, Maine state law requires that five traffic accidents occur at a particular light before it can be switched from a blinking yellow to a red-yellow-green set-up.

"They're reactive, not proactive," Chammings said of state authorities.

"The fact of the matter is, those lights belong to the town of Oxford," Chammings said. "If it warrants us to turn those lights on, we will turn those lights on."

But according to Maine Department of Transportation spokesman Ted Talbot, not only does Oxford not own the light, fears that it will only be blinking yellow are unfounded.

Talbot said that the DOT, in anticipation of the high volume of traffic to the casino, already plans to install a fully functioning traffic light at the intersection, rather than the blinking yellow light Chammings thought.

Talbot also said that although the town was responsible for maintaining the light, the state was the actual owner.

According to Talbot, the light would be operational by the day the casino opens and will probably be installed sometime in May.

In other news, the board:

• Awarded a contract to maintain Pottle Road Field to Richardson Landscape Service for $10,180.