Roadway Safety Working Group presents final
recommendations
A Town-led design workshop on improvements to a Town Center intersection;
a bicycle/pedestrian path plan for Shore Road; and, four new projects for
sidewalk and shoulder improvements are among final recommendations made by
the Town's Roadway Safety Working Group.
At their July 9 meeting, the Town Council accepted the working group's report,
and made plans to discuss the recommendations at a workshop in October.
"I do think we need a workshop, because of the magnitude of the expense,"
said Town Councilor Mary Ann Lynch, who was serving as chairman that night
while Chairman Paul McKenney was away on National Guard Duty.
The second recommendation of the group - a committee to begin planning a
walking and biking path for Shore Road - represents the beginning of what
would be a $2 million project, said Town Manager Michael McGovern. That,
added to the sidewalk and road shoulder recommendations the group is also
calling for in its third recommendation, means an investment of approximately
$6.5 million.
McGovern advised the council to take a closer look at the recommendations
in terms of "the big picture" before taking action.
The four sidewalk and shoulder-improvement projects being recommended by
the Roadway Safety Working Group are:
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Town Center sidewalks on Route 77 from Shore Road to the Cape Elizabeth United
Methodist Church;
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Shore Road/Fort Williams sidewalk;
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Fowler Road sidewalk; and,
-
Mitchell Road shoulders.
The recommendations came from a public forum held Sept. 18, 2006; work of
a previous pedestrian committee; and, the working group's efforts to prepare
a traffic-calming policy proposal that was adopted by the council in April.
Some of the recommendations are already in Town plans in some form. The Town
Center sidewalk improvement, according to the working group's report, is
proposed for funding in the fiscal-year 2008 bond issue as part of the Route
77/Shore Road/Scott Dyer Road intersection. And, the Shore Road pathway study
is included in the draft comprehensive plan that will go to public hearing
before the council in September.
The Shore Road/Fort Williams sidewalk would extend an existing sidewalk on
Shore Road to connect to the greenbelt trail that begins across from Fort
Williams and extends to the Town Center.
The working group's first recommendation, to hold a design workshop for the
Route 77/Shore Road/Scott Dyer Road intersection, would ensure that not only
the needs of motorists, but of pedestrians and cyclists, are considered in
the project's design.
The Town has received a grant to fund 80 percent of the $430,000 cost to
install a traffic light and related pedestrian improvements at the intersection.
McGovern said he was "a little nervous" about having the Roadway Safety Working
Group hold a design workshop because such meetings are usually conducted
by the Maine Department of Transportation.
McGovern said the MDOT is planning to put the Town Center traffic-light project
out to bid next March.
Lynch, a daily pedestrian along Shore Road, said she appreciated the sentiments
of the report, and that citizens are concerned about Cape Elizabeth's
narrow roads - walkers, runners, cyclists and motorists alike. Yet, she said,
a challenge will be to preserve the rural character those narrow roads provide.
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