The First, N.A. on Gardiner Road in Wiscasset hopes to move its exit northward and improve traffic flow through its lot, by late spring or early summer, an engineer said Monday night.

The project, which includes new striping and taking out most of the lot's islands, will mean vehicles leaving the bank's drive-through will no longer have to make a u-turn to get back out of the lot, William Gartley, president of Gartley & Dorsky Engineering & Surveying of Camden said.

"The (existing) layout is not very clear to people who haven't used it," resulting in drivers pausing, unsure where to go, Gartley said in an interview before the start of Monday's planning board meeting at the municipal building.

The proposed work will also improve handicapped access to parking near the building, and improve drainage, Gartley told the board.

When a property next door became available last year, the bank saw the opportunity to make the improvements, Gartley said.

The current entrance-exit will become an entrance only, he said. Plans call for narrowing it some, to help show that it is only an entrance, he added.

The proposed exit will go on that new piece, taking out a maple tree but leaving the building, Gartley said.

The project needs approval from the planning board and the Maine Department of Transportation; the bank is working with MDOT, Gartley told the board.

Monday's meeting was the board's first look at the proposal. Members set a site walk for March 16; they doubted the project will need a public hearing. At Gartley's request, Town Planner Ben Averill said he would put the site plan review on the board's agenda for March 28.

The project would not add to traffic, impact water quality or change pedestrian access, according to the bank's application to the town.

Board members voiced no concerns about the bank's plan. Member Deb Pooler said she thinks it will be an improvement.

"As long as DOT says it's good, I think our hands go up instantly," fellow member Al Cohen said.