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Bike*Walk*Roll*Cape is advocating for a redesign that will prioritize the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists in our town center.
What can you do to help?
1. Respond ASAP to the town's 4-minute survey (Survey link is below)
2. Rank pedestrian safety and bicycle safety (our most vulnerable users) above the other options.
[The survey is somewhat unclear about whether "traffic speeds" means prioritizing lowering speeds or prioritizing the speed at which drivers get to their destination.]
3. Pick any of the roundabout traffic patterns (not the "squaring up" pattern)
4. Attend the public forum on Wednesday August 21 in the lower conference room at Town Hall.
Why?
There is danger in going ahead with an insufficient & car-oriented solution (the "squared-off" traffic pattern design).
We can do so much better.
Background:
The town has finally begun to act on making the intersection in the town center (Rt. 77/Shore Road/Scott Dyer Road) safer.
That is a great start!
Design #1 squares off the corners and shortens the crosswalks.
Design #1 (Sebago Technics) was presented to the town in March 2024.
Bike*Walk*Roll*Cape was at first excited to consider this proposal because the funding is available for it.
However, this "squared-off" design does not do nearly enough to slow vehicle speeds to speeds less likely to cause serious injury or death to pedestrians and other vulnerable road users in the event of a crash.
It is always worth pausing a project when we have new information.
Enter Designs #2, 3, & 4 (Sebago Technics), each of which include a roundabout.
The Town Council, at a March meeting, listened to citizen input that asked the town to consider a "peanut roundabout" design.
The Council asked Sebago Technics to research further.
On July 8, Sebago Technics presented these three additional designs.
All three of these designs feature roundabouts and are superior to Design #1.
Why?
A roundabout would slow vehicle speeds, prioritize pedestrian and bike safety, and create a traffic-calmed gateway to the town center.
"The FHWA identified roundabouts as a Proven Safety Countermeasure because of their ability to substantially reduce the types of crashes that result in injury or loss of life. Roundabouts are designed to improve safety for all users, including pedestrians and bicycles. They also provide significant operational benefits compared to conventional intersections."
In addition, Bike*Walk*Roll*Cape proposes the following:
Shift the goal of the design-change to prioritizing our most vulnerable road users in the town center: pedestrians and bicyclists and users of mobility devices, instead of prioritizing motor vehicles which are the primary cause of injury.
Trial a design first, through a fast-build, low-cost demonstration project (aka "tactical urbanism"), which can then be modified before spending the money to put in a more permanent design.
Reduce the width of the travel lanes to 10', not the 11' width present in all of the current designs.
Why?
Wide travel lanes encourage drivers (unconsciously) to drive faster and faster speeds are significantly more dangerous to other users of our public streets. Narrowing travel lanes even improves road safety for drivers.
There is no measurable decrease in street capacity when travel lane widths are narrowed from 12 feet to 10 feet (NACTO).
Let's keep the momentum going for a design that is better than "Well, it's funded, so let's do it." Bike*Walk*Roll*Cape understands that there is a lot of grant funding available to municipalities for planning and implementing traffic-calming projects. With the help of grants, such as the Safe Streets 4 All grants, the cost of a roundabout design to the town of Cape Elizabeth would not be higher than the cost of the "squared-off" traffic pattern design.
The town center intersection survey takes less than 4 minutes. Selecting any of the 3 roundabout designs will suggest we move the issue forward toward a design that works best for all road users and for a walkable town center.
*Both NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials) in 2013 and AASHTO (American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials) in 2018 have updated their street design guidance regarding reducing travel lane width. In 2023, Johns Hopkins researchers published a comprehensive study: "The Impact of Lane Widths on Traffic Safety."
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