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DRAFT <br />COMMENTS REGARDING THE HIGHWAY 12 DECISION <br />improvement are far out of scale with the amount of traffic to be served by the <br />improvements. It appears that the only purpose served by an extension of <br />Watertown Road is to move traffic from current Watertown Road through Long <br />Lake, which has served this traffic for many years, to an alignment that <br />substantially changes the character of a wide swath of land in both Long Lake and <br />Orono. The extension would also significantly impact the Long Lake Creek and <br />adjacent wetland areas. <br />Because the amount of traffic on Watertown Road is not projected to increase <br />substantially, the purpose of the extension again appears to be to move basically <br />existing traffic impacts from one area and group of people to another. It seems <br />to make more sense to leave the impacts where they have been for many years <br />rather than transferring them to a new location, and to a set of property owners <br />who selected their location for the specific reason of avoiding traffic impacts. <br />The portion of Watertown Road in Long Lake is where the most dense <br />development is currently existing and projected. This development generates a <br />significant amount of traffic on the portion of Watertown Road in Long Lake. <br />Because this traffic will remain on existing Watenown Road regardless of a new <br />alignment of Watertown Road, it makes most sense to use scarce resources to <br />improve existing Watertown Road to best serve those who currently use it rather <br />than to build an additional Watertown Road. <br />Orono opposes the extension of Watertown Road on a new alignment for the <br />following reasons: <br />•It requires the acquisition of residential properties and will have <br />long term impacts on remaining residential properties.