Maine
Oxford opposes Maine DOT plan for Oxford Street traffic light
OXFORD — Selectperson Sharon Jackson did not mince words when Maine Department of Transportation Regional Planner Matt Drost addressed the board about plans to install a traffic light at the intersection of Main and Oxford streets.
“I think it’s a terrible idea,” Jackson said. “I don’t know why this board was not made aware of it … Shouldn’t there have been a public hearing held on this?”
Drost explained the project originated in the agency’s Safety Office which does not trigger the same kind of communication as a traffic planning study.
“I’m not aware that MDOT is required to notify the town,” Drost said. “It was an identified safety need … It will allow traffic to turn safely out of Oxford Street onto Route 26.
“We would not necessarily have a public hearing in person. I’ll have to check when and if, and I’d assume that there was one, for a virtual public opportunity hosted by MDOT.”
Jackson countered that she was not aware of any hearing being advertised or held.
In September MDOT Project Manager Brian Keezer attended a Paris Select Board meeting about the pending project and indicated there would be a virtual public hearing about the project.
At that meeting, Keezer also stated that if MDOT sees “unanimous opposition to it, it’s likely we’ll go away and spend the money somewhere else.”
MDOT’s Safety Office has designated the intersection of Route 26 and Oxford Street in Oxford as a high crash location and plans to install a traffic light next year. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat
“It’s a town road,” Vice-Chairman Dana Dillingham pointed out to Drost Thursday night. “Does the town of Paris not have the ability to post (on the other end) that it is not a through-way? That’s where a lot of the traffic is coming from – GPS leading from Sunday River.”
Drost answered that Paris would have that ability, adding that the road was not originally constructed to handle the high volume of vehicles it handles. But he added there is currently enough traffic to warrant safety measures on the part of MDOT.
Dillingham persisted, asking whether installing such a sign would trigger GPS apps to instead direct southbound traffic to continue along Route 26 instead of through neighborhood streets.
Drost said that in that scenario it would take time for new mapping to update, even if Paris has taken the step, and would not involve MDOT to make happen.
Jackson then asked what the Safety Office had determined about traffic backing up due to a traffic light, one of the complaints Paris selectmen had addressed with Keezer last fall. Drost was not able to speak to what the impact would be.
“While there may be some backups, any that occur during peak times, there would not be situations where people wait minutes upon minutes,” Drost replied. “I think it would outlet all of Oxford Street and then allow 26 to continue for some time without backup on Oxford Street.”
The project is slated to be done in 2026 and will take about two months to complete. It is not part of the ongoing larger Route 26 project that will continue next year further south in the corridor where Routes 26 and 121 converge and overlap.
The board also used its discussion time with Drost to take issue over the recently redesigned intersection at Route 26 and Skeetfield Road. The new lanes require traffic turning from Skeetfield on Route 26 to drive into the lane for drivers to turn right onto the road, which has created new hazards, especially during poor visibility. Jackson requested that the right turn be made more gradual and that a street light be added. Drost said he would take her suggestions back to MDOT engineers for consideration.
Many Maine municipalities will open cooling centers this week with the National Weather Service issuing a variety of heat advisories covering the next few days.
The Maine DEP also issued an air quality alert for Wednesday with ground-level ozone expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
All of York County, interior Cumberland and Androscoggin counties, and the southern half of Oxford County will fall under an extreme heat warning from 11 a.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Friday.
The warning calls for “dangerously hot conditions” that could feature heat index values of up to 110 degrees, with overnight lows only expected to fall into the 70s, according to the weather service’s office in Gray.
The rest of the state — save northern Aroostook, Piscataquis and Somerset counties — falls under a heat advisory from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. However, the weather service has also placed much of the state under an extreme heat watch for Thursday.
Heat index values, which measure how hot it feels to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature, are expected to reach up to 104 degrees during the heat advisory period, the weather service warns. They could reach 110 degrees Thursday, when the extreme heat watch is in effect.
Northern Oxford and Franklin counties, and central Somerset County, can expect a heat index value of up to 99 degrees Wednesday, according to the weather service.
The weather service advises people to drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned rooms when possible, avoid extended periods in the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors. It also warns not to leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles, as “car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes.”
Cooling Centers
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has also issued an air quality alert from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesday along the coast from Kittery to Acadia National Park. The agency warns that ground-level ozone concentrations are expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Ozone levels may reach “moderate levels” further inland, according to the Maine DEP, including in all of Androscoggin and Kennebec counties, as well as parts of Cumberland, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, Waldo, Washington and York counties.
Elevated ozone levels can pose a risk to children, older adults and people suffering from respiratory or heart diseases, according to the Maine DEP. Anyone exerting themselves outdoors may also experience health effects, which could include coughing, shortness of breath, throat irritation and mild chest pain.
Ozone levels were already climbing in southern New England on Tuesday, according to the Maine DEP, and winds are expected to bring those conditions to Maine on Wednesday.
The Maine DEP recommends that vulnerable populations avoid strenuous outdoor activities, keep windows closed, and circulate indoor air with fans or air conditioners. Those with asthma are also advised to keep quick-relief medication handy.
Particle pollution levels are also expected to be moderate across the state on Wednesday due to wildfire smoke, the Maine DEP said in its announcement Tuesday. Wildfires in Colorado, which have claimed the lives of three firefighters, had burned nearly 90,000 acres as of Tuesday, according to the Denver Post.
Maine could face up to $50 million in penalties next year due to errors in its payments for federal food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Newly released data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture find that Maine’s error rate last year was nearly 11%, the bulk of which were overpayments. That’s in line with the U.S. average. But starting in October of next year, states with error rates above 6% must cover a portion of the SNAP benefits.
Anna Korsen, executive director of Full Plates, Full Potential, said the overpayments aren’t fraud — they’re human error. She said this new cost-shifting policy enacted last year under the Trump administration further complicates the SNAP application process.
“Instead, we could make this program more accessible and more efficient,” Korsen said. “And that would reduce the number of errors and also ensure that Mainers who are eligible for SNAP have access to it.”
She’s urging Congress to delay or reverse the policy under the farm bill that’s currently under consideration.
Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services said it’s taking steps to reduce the error rate, including modernizing its systems and hiring an additional 40 eligibility specialists.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
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