A rendering of what a rotary could look like at the end of the Saco Main Street spur.

Traffic improvements could be made to Ocean Park Road in Old Orchard Beach and Main Street in Saco to make the areas safer and more efficient.

At a meeting on Nov. 19, the Old Orchard Beach Town Council heard recommendations for the areas from Gorrill Palmer engineers.

Recommendations largely include adding signals, reducing speeds, and building rotaries to redirect the flow of traffic, especially around the intersection known as “halfway” in Old Orchard Beach, the area where Old Salt Road, Ocean Park Road, Old Orchard Road, Temple Avenue and Saco Avenue Meet and which can be extremely difficult to get through, particularly in the busy summer tourist season.

One of the areas included in a study by Gorrill Palmer is the off ramps coming from the Route 195 spur on Saco Main Street.

“Both of those locations are high crash locations,” Gorrill Palmer engineer Don Ettinger said.

The biggest change Ettinger recommended is the elimination of a “through movement” from the off ramp at exit 2A heading south. In the future, southbound vehicles would only be able to turn right at the exit.

To get to Ocean Park Road, drivers would have to head to the end of the spur and turn right at Ocean Park Road, which drivers currently cannot do.

A lower speed zone would also be implemented towards Saco Main Street.

“Vehicles are going too fast coming down the spur and entering Ocean Park Road,” Ettinger said.

At the end of the spur, Ettinger recommended implementing a rotary to slow down the speed of traffic and direct it more efficiently.

But some residents said rotaries are not the best option.

Steve Sousa said he is very “anti-rotary” and would not want to see one built in Old Orchard Beach.

“I think signal lights are a much safer option than a rotary,” Sousa said.

Town Council Vice-Chair Kenneth Blow said he knows not everyone will be happy with the projects, but he believes the recommendations from Gorrill Palmer are the best options.

“There was no perfect fix to make it all work,” Blow said.

Gorrill Palmer also recommended implementing a signal light and a four-way intersection near Smith Wheel Road and the Old Orchard Beach campground.

“During the summer time, it’s very difficult to get in and out of Smith Wheel road,” Ettinger said.

Signalizing the intersection would provide for full access in and out of Smith Wheel Road, Ettinger said.

The campground entrance would also be realigned to be opposite of Smith Wheel Road, providing easier access to the road.

“We feel it will function much better as a four-way intersection,” Ettinger said.

Gorrill Palmer also proposed a four-way signalized intersection on Ocean Park Road near the 7/11 convenience store and gas station.

The project costs sit anywhere from $600,000 to $16 million depending on the level of construction, Ettinger said.

The cost to build a rotary at the end of the spur would be approximately $16 million, while the cost to add signals to intersections would be about $600,000. The town would have to work with the Maine Department of Transportation and the city of Saco to fund the projects.

The design phase of the project is next, Ettinger said, and then the town will secure funding for construction.

“We’re confident that this will be an improvement,” Ettinger said.