The saga of Walmart potentially moving from East to West Wareham continued with a peer review traffic impact and access study on Thursday, Dec. 15.

Bernie Kalus of WSP-Sells, the town’s peer review company, presented the study on the proposed Walmart move to the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals in a joint meeting.

Walmart, which currently operates in East Wareham, has proposed construction of a new store in West Wareham at the corner of Cranberry Highway (Route 28) and Tobey Road, north of Wareham Crossing.

The study Kalus presented touched on specific areas that required further investigation to improve the proposed traffic mitigation measures. Issues included seasonal variations in traffic volumes, potential diversions to Main Street, unmitigated impacts, and proposed mitigation at the intersection of Cranberry Highway, Tobey Road, and Tow Road.

“This should alleviate Mass Highway’s concerns,” he said.

The proposed mitigation at the intersection of the Cranberry Highway, Tobey Road, and Tow Road involves adding another lane on the southbound side of Cranberry Highway around Tobey Road. Presently southbound Cranberry Highway traffic travels in a single lane past Tobey Road before widening to two lanes at a point between the Tobey Road intersection and the Wareham Crossing entrance. The mitigation also proposes five-foot-wide sidewalks on both sides of the highway.

Kalus showed computer simulations of the traffic flow so the board members could see the proposed plans in action. He had previously cautioned both boards in an August 2011 meeting that, without mitigation, increased traffic volume would increase delays and raise safety concerns along Cranberry Highway near the intersection of Tobey Road and Tow Road and also along Tremont Road between Main Street and Cranberry Highway.

Thursday night Kalus reported the current unmitigated impacts include the intersection of Main Street and Tremont Road and the intersection of Charlotte Furnace Road and Cranberry Highway. There is a potential for traffic building up in those areas as a result of Walmart’s relocation, but there are no future planned improvements.

The potential diversions to Main Street at the intersection of Tobey Road have raised some safety concerns, involving increased queues in traffic, limited sight distance, and the proximity of the railroad overpass that cuts across Main Street. The study proposed turning the intersection into a three-way stop with turning lanes. Station Street, which intersects Main Street diagonally from Tobey Road, beside the John W. Decas Elementary School, already has a stop sign.

The seasonal changes in traffic volumes yielded a bell-curve result, with the peaks in the summer months, as one would expect in a vacation destination town like Wareham.

Shaun Kelly, the project manager representing Walmart from Vanassee & Associates, had not seen the study until December 15 meeting. Kelly and the town will have to reach a consensus on the mitigation issues. Until then the project is at a standstill.

Then a meeting can be held with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to discuss improvements on Cranberry Highway. Following the meeting with the Department of Transportation the traffic impact and access study can be finalized and findings will be developed.

The Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Board agreed to reconvene the public hearing in another joint meeting on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m.

Members of the public also had the opportunity to voice their concerns.

Peter Beaton, of Bay Side Agriculture and Cranberry Growers Service, said he’s for Walmart, but concerned with safety. Of particular concern to him are tractor-trailers making left turns from the highway onto Tobey Road.

Zoning Board of Appeals Chairman Kenneth Ferreira, agreed.

“Everybody’s at a standstill waiting for the truck to turn,” he said.

Sheila Monaghan also expressed her issues with how the increased traffic flow will affect Great Hills Estates, an over-55 community of over 200 homes located north of Tobey Road on Cranberry Highway. The traffic light changes currently only leave drivers a “matter of seconds” to make a left turn.

“It’s very difficult for us to get out,” Monaghan said, adding that most drivers need to turn left in order to go into town.

The proposed Walmart would offer a full line of groceries, in addition to the current inventory found at the East Wareham location. The store cannot expand its grocery line in its current location because it is located in the same plaza as Stop & Shop.

Before the new Walmart will be constructed, the project will need to meet the approval of the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Planning Board, the Board of Selectmen, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, and Mass Highway.