Our View: Traffic Talk

If you’ve ever driven around Orleans, especially during the peak summer months, you can understand the concerns from residents about traffic impacts at the intersection of Route 28 and Route 6A that might arise from the proposed housing development at the former Governor Prence Inn. The intersection is arguably the most unique one in town, especially with the rotary where the two major roads meet.

 So how would the development of 78 new housing units further strain traffic in such a busy area? We don’t know for sure, but two analyses have so far suggested that the development would not substantially add to what already exists. Concerned residents in August petitioned the zoning board of appeals for an independent third-party review of the traffic impact study presented by Tighe and Bond as part of the project’s application. Specifically, the impact study projected that the area of the project sees a 44 percent increase in traffic during the summer months.

 Some figure that number to be low, but the independent review conducted by the firm Howard Stein Hudson supported it, calling it a “conservative” estimate. The firm also found that Tighe and Bond’s initial traffic impact study was done to industry standards, and that Tighe and Bond has so far been responsive to its questions.

 Yet residents last month soldiered on with their concerns about traffic impacts, insisting that there will be problems brought on by the addition of more housing. But when do we trust the experts we charge with looking at these potential impacts? An independent review was called for and allowed by the zoning board. A third party reviewed the impact study and largely supported the means by which it was done. 

 Traffic is a reasonable concern here on the Lower Cape, especially during the busy summer season. But there comes a point when those concerns become belabored, especially when independent analysis from experts should allay those concerns. The window for review is fast closing for the zoning board, and we think it best that residents fall in behind the findings of the study that they asked for.