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2
Existing Conditions
2.1 Introduction
This chapter describes the existing or baseline conditions in the Study Area. Current
transportation infrastructure and traffic-operating conditions, as well as
environmental and socioeconomic resources, are described. Information on the
natural and cultural resources contained in the transportation strategies were
obtained from file reviews, agency consultations, geographic information system
(GIS) database retrieval, and a windshield-level field-reconnaissance effort. It is this
affected environment that the impacts of the various Feasibility Study options are
evaluated against in Chapter 5.
2.2 Transportation
This section summarizes the existing transportation infrastructure and trafficoperating
conditions in the Study Area, which is generally bound by I-295 on the
west between Exits 28 and 31, by State Route 196 to the north, and by US Route 1 and
Bath Road to the east and south. Figure 2-1 shows the primary Feasibility Study
roadways and associated functional classification. Subsection 2.2.1 describes the
existing transportation facilities including roadways, public transportation, rail, and
bicyclist and pedestrian facilities. Subsection 2.2.2 summarizes existing 2009 traffic
volumes, the development of appropriate existing design hour volumes (DHVs), and
results of the existing traffic-operations evaluation. Subsection 2.2.3 summarizes the
existing roadway and intersection deficiencies identified through crash research and
crash analysis, physical inventories of the geometric conditions, and operational and
capacity analyses.
2.2.1 Existing Facilities
Roadways
State Route 196 is the major transportation link between the Lewiston–Auburn area
and Midcoast Maine. The segment of State Route 196 in the Study Area is classified
Existing Conditions 20