WISCASSET

The potential for new jobs along the four-mile stretch of U.S. Route 1 from the Woolwich town line is eye-popping.

Just to begin: Consultants working on the Bath Road Master Plan can envision a 75 percent employment growth in Wiscasset — that’s 1,190 jobs — from now until 2030. That’s tempered, however, by the need to manage a corresponding increase in traffic along that stretch of U.S. 1 known far and wide for traffic snarls.

Such a scenario is the work of the Bath Road Master Plan Steering Committee, which has been meeting since August. Consultants and stakeholders of the Route 1 corridor conducted their first public hearing on the complex subject Wednesday night at the town office.

“There could be long delays — longer than they are now,” said consultant Thomas Errico, a traffic engineer. “What we want to try to do is to see that the roadway doesn’t deter development.”

The projection of 1,190 new jobs would be accompanied by 100,000 square feet of new commercial space, half of that for retail, Errico said. The Industrial Park near Route 144, Mason Station near Birch Point Road and the area around Old Bath Road could accommodate sig- nificant growth, he said.

There could be 250 new residents, as well.

The catch: Another 3,600 vehicles added to a highway that already averages 16,000 to 17,000 vehicles per day. Errico and fellow consultant Mitchell Rasor are working with the committee, which includes Gerry Audibert, a special projects engineer with the state Department of Transportation, to sort out the traffic challenges.

Traffic mobility and safety are chief among those traffic concerns.

“It’s a very dynamic corridor, with a lot of challenges,” Errico said. “Bath Road is a major arterial. Mobility is important in a major arterial.”

The DOT, in fact, considers Bath Road a “retrograde” arterial, the highest level of crash rates.

“Maintaining mobility,” Errico said, “is very important. “The DOT wants to maintain speeds, and minimize safety problems.”

Spacing between access points, therefore, is important. That includes new driveways. Sight distance is also a concern with the DOT, Errico said.

“There’s a lot of cars on Route 1, and it’s hard to make an exit out,” he said. “Traffic sometimes backs up to Big Al’s and beyond in the summer. Driveways are too close to intersections.”

Rasor walked the four-mile stretch from Flood Avenue to the Woolwich line last summer. He counted 199 lots fronting U.S. 1, and 12 undeveloped parcels.

He noted older development near the Route 144 intersection. There is newer development near Shaw’s, and some open space near old Bath Road. Then, motorists travel along the long space occupied by Wiscasset Ford, over Ward’s Brook, then Big Al’s and onto residential areas.

There are few environmental issues with development, he said. Moreover, there is adequate infrastructure of water and sewer to support growth.

lgrard@timesrecord.com