Protected bike lane on Fore Street hill climb to Eastern Prom?

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Christian MilNeil

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Jan 9, 2023, 11:25:47 AM1/9/23
to pb...@googlegroups.com, Helen Donaldson, Troy Moon, Bruce Hyman
Hey everyone,

The Portland Co. developers are going to the Planning Board this week for their next phase of development, which will rebuild the hillside between Munjoy South and Atlantic Street.

The project would also rebuild the curb and sidewalk on the south side of Fore Street. The current plan is for them to rebuild it as-is, with relatively narrow 6' sidewalks and a wide street with two lanes of on-street parking.

But because a) the project is proposing a massive off-street parking garage and b) there's basically been no on-street parking on the south side of Fore Street for the past 2-3 years because of sewer construction, this could be a great opportunity to ask the city/developers for a safer bike route (and wider sidewalks) by replacing one lane of on-street parking with an uphill protected bike lane instead. Future city-led projects could potentially expand this facility all the way to and around the Eastern Prom, which has a very wide right-of-way:

fore-street-uphill-protected-bike-lane.png
If built as part of the Portland Co. project this would be relatively short but fairly high-impact, since this is the steepest part of Fore Street, which is one of the best bike routes up Munjoy Hill, and this is the segment where people going uphill on bikes really have the most need for a separated facility.

Any interest in mobilizing a little bit to get this idea some traction?

Christian MilNeil
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Zack Barowitz

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Jan 9, 2023, 12:25:47 PM1/9/23
to PB...@googlegroups.com, Bruce Hyman, Helen Donaldson, Troy Moon
I’d certainly be interested in discussing it at tonight’s meeting. 
Zack 

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Winston Lumpkins

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Jan 9, 2023, 1:08:06 PM1/9/23
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I frequently take Fore Street as I travel home through the east end, as it's one of the more gradual hills- I have had a few sketchy experiences especially at night with people trying to pass me, and think this would be a great idea.  At any rate, the sidewalk is excessively narrow...
I'd also like to request that because of the incline, they replace it with a concrete sidewalk like it is now & not a brick one.  That side of the street already has concrete, and sometimes I take that side on purpose if it's slippery out & I'm walking.

We have a pretty light agenda for tonight, so I will be happy to discuss it at tonight's meeting. 

This is under new business in their agenda- will they be voting on it another time?  The meeting is tomorrow, so I'm not sure that the committee could get a letter out in time to be included in this meeting- if there will be another, we could vote tonight to send a letter to the planning board asking that they consider having literally anything more than the minimal sidewalk that's there now.  we would need a volunteer to write such a letter...


~Winston


Winston Lumpkins IV (he/him/his)

Chair, Portland Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee
https://www.portlandbikeped.org/

winston....@gmail.com
207-408-1508




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Scsmedia

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Jan 9, 2023, 1:50:29 PM1/9/23
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Info on tomorrow night's Planning Board workshop.   We have plenty of time to draft a letter on this.

I just went through the materials and did not see the reference to the street and sidewalks so can Christian post that info please.

i. Level III Site Plan and Subdivision; 58 Fore Street; Portland Foreside Development Company, Applicant.   (estimated time 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.) The Planning Board will hold a remote workshop to consider a proposal for Phase 2, to develop Block 4 and Block 6 of the Portland Foreside Master Development Plan, which includes 716,836 square feet of mixed-use development; inclusive of 401 residential units, 696 off-street parking spaces, and 21,058 square feet of commercial/retail/service space, along with various infrastructure and utility improvements.  The subject property is a 10.7-acre parcel zoned B-6, R-6, and EWPZ, with a portion of the site located within the Shoreland Zone and within the Portland Company Historic District and Munjoy Hill Historic District. A project and plan summary are available for viewing on the city’s CSS Portal (https://css.portlandmaine.gov/) by referencing Plan Number PL-002202-2022.


Apparently, the developer made an error in not purchasing an abutting property (5 Fore Street) from a friendly party and now has opposition to this plan from a neighbor who could have deep pockets.

Steven Scharf

Christian MilNeil

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Jan 9, 2023, 2:06:30 PM1/9/23
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Click the "plans" link in the planning board agenda. On the overall site plan you'll see the sidewalk and Fore Street curb are outlined in a dashed line marked "LW" for "limits of work."

Like most new developments are required to rebuild the sidewalks and curbs of their adjacent street frontages. As others have noted, it can take the City >10 years to get a street project built, so privately-financed projects like this one are among our best opportunities to make changes on a faster timeline.

Christian MilNeil
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Scsmedia

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Jan 10, 2023, 7:15:18 PM1/10/23
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Watching the Planning Board meeting and the conversation that has happened around the Fore Street Bike Lane, I would suggest our next move should be to reach out to the developer and proactively encourage them to buld the infrastructure up the hill and past their 13-21 Eastern Prom property.

I would suggest Winston have a conversation tomorrow night with David Sensus, Mary McCrann and Casey Prentice about meeting on site to look at the options.

We also need to bring the Distrct 1 Councilor, April Fornier into conversation so that we can also discuss linking to the rest of the street and possibly extending it past Foreside property.

Steven Scharf




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