FARMINGTON — Because of the great amount interest in the proposed traffic lane changes for Wilton Road, the Board of Selectmen decided Tuesday to hold a special meeting next week at the Community Center.

The board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 19, at the center on Middle Street, where there is more room than at the Municipal Building and handicap accessibility.

The board is expected to discuss and decide on the Maine Department of Transportation’s proposal to reduce Routes 2 and 4/Wilton Road from four lanes to three. MDOT suggested the change because of safety and the number of accidents.

The Transportation Advisory Committee agreed to give the plan a try and forwarded its recommendation to selectmen.

The change is expected to occur in 2016 at the earliest when MDOT works on the road from Franklin Memorial Hospital to Center Bridge.

In other business, the board agreed with the Downtown Tax Increment Financing Advisory Committee’s recommendation to hold off on engineering design for projects along Front Street extending to Intervale and West Farmington. The work included sidewalks and lights.

Four requests for proposals were received for the engineering work, Town Manager Richard Davis said. The estimates ranged from $16,000 to $55,000.

The committee recommends that the town not award a contract until there’s more money in the TIF account, Davis said.

Davis also reported that about 100 junipers planted last week at the riverbank erosion site off Whittier Road did not survive.

The town will receive credit for the plants. With Federal Emergency Management Agency approval, dogwood or alders will replace the junipers, he said.

Selectmen also voted 3-1 to donate $250 from the special projects account to Farmington’s Summer Fest. The festival has sent over 165 letters to area businesses and organizations asking for sponsorship this year, Susun Terese, chairman of the Summer Fest committee, said. 

Selectmen Stephan Bunker, Andrew Buckland and Michael Fogg voted for the donation. Matthew Smith voted no.

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