By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

Plans for construction of a dormitory at the University of New England that would require changes to Route 9 traffic will be reviewed Aug. 5 by the Biddeford Planning Board. 

City Planner Greg Tansley said planning board members will conduct a site walk during the meeting and final approval could come as soon as that night for the proposed 300-bed facility. Conceptual plans for the building are included in the university’s master plan approved by the city earlier this year. 

Tansley said the notion of UNE development on the west side of Route 9 was approved during the master planning process, which is required under the city’s zoning ordinance. The five-year master plan approved March 5 was the second developed by the university, he said.

Alan Thibeault, director of campus planning at UNE, said the four-story, suite-style residence hall will be similar to four other dorms built since 2000. The building would be located on an undeveloped parcel of land just south of New Town Road and construction could being as soon as this fall, with plans to open by fall 2010, he said.

Future development on the site could include four dormitories, a field house and two soccer fields, Tansley said.

Tansley said the Maine Department of Transportation issued the university a traffic movement permit after the university conducted a traffic impact analysis. The state’s permit includes requirements for road improvements that also have been reviewed by city staff.

Road improvements required by the state include the construction of sidewalks and bike lanes on both sides of Route 9 between the intersection of Hills Beach Road and the new access road at the Facilities Building Road intersection. Refuge islands in the middle of the road with six-inch raised granite curbing must also be added, along with appropriate landscaping and lighting. 

Once mitigation work is complete, the DOT will complete a speed zone analysis in that area of Route 9, according to the permit. Tansley said it is likely the speed limit will be reduced to 35 miles per hour because of the addition of sidewalks. Speed limits in the area currently are 40 miles per hour.

Thibeault said the university plans to build a pedestrian tunnel underneath Route 9 to accommodate students as they travel between their dorm and main campus buildings. The dorm site would sit below street level and pedestrians would follow the “path of least resistance” through the tunnel in the safest way possible, he said.

Changes to the road would cost an estimated $400,000, Tansley said. The state has allocated $200,000 for the project and the university will be responsible for the remaining costs, he said.

Kyle Noble, a former city councilor who lives on Hills Beach Road, said he opposes the proposed changes to Route 9 because they will inconvenience people who travel through the area.

“I do not think it’s appropriate they be allowed to create a new village center in what is essentially a rural zone,” he said.

Noble said he is concerned students will not use the tunnel, choosing instead to cross Route 9 and impede the flow of traffic. A Route 9 overpass with an interior university access road beneath it would be a better plan, he said.

Despite some attempts to contact area residents, Noble said he feels most people who use Route 9 are unaware of the proposed changes and the impact they will have. Thibeault said the university has notified abutters of its plans and has sent out letters and invited residents to campus for an informational meeting.

“We’ve tried to very hard to be open and transparent with people,” he said. “The information has been out there. We’ve been more open than we’ve ever been.”

Thibeault said the university will continue to answer questions from residents as they arise.  The Wednesday, Aug. 5, meeting of the planning board begins at 6 p.m. in Biddeford City Hall. 

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.