Comment needed in Scarborough May 6th

[Amelia Neilson]

Hi all! I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge / interest in learning more about the Scarborough Route 1 road diet? It's a resiliency project that raises the marsh stretch of the road and there's an idea to reduce northbound lanes down to 1 (from 2) and create a 10ft separated, multiuse path. One of the arguments against it is that the Eastern Trail runs parallel, but seems to me that a pedestrian/bike option there would greatly increase connectivity on the Route 1 corridor. The stretch is also deadly - a bicyclist was killed near this section last year. Cutting down cars and providing bike/ped facilities are important public health measures.

Apparently the first round of comments for the were overwhelmingly negative from a few loud folks, but there's another opportunity coming up on May 6th to comment in favor. There's a DOT workshop 5:30-7PM and a hybrid town meeting 7-8PM (My understanding is that there is a chance to comment during the meeting portion.)

Is anyone familiar with this stretch of road who might be able to speak to the proposal? The town allows comments from non-residents, I believe. It would be so great to counter the negative voices and remind town councillors that this change would be totally in line with their complete streets policy.

[Myles G. Smith]

Thanks for sharing, Amelia!

I've biked the Eastern Trail through the marsh, but not Route 1, because I like my life and want to keep it. Here's a screenshot from Google Maps. There's no reason for this road to be four lanes. I've driven this stretch occasionally, though I can't remember ever seeing it congested. If I'm not mistaken, it was overbuilt back before the Maine Turnpike was finished, and most of the state through traffic moved to 95 after 1950. So, one could also argue there's no need to have two four-lane highways parallel to each other.

Making a safe route for someone biking or walking from Dunstan to the south part of Route 1 in Scarborough would cut the non-car travel distance and time in half. Walking from the Dunstan neighborhood (which actually has a bunch of homes) to, say, the Holy Donut in Scarborough, would cut the one-way trip down by about 45 minutes. I'm not sure drivers are saving 45 seconds by having an extra travel lane.

I'll include this in an update to the Mainers for Smarter Transportation listserv, which includes hundreds of Scarborough residents.

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[Amelia Neilson]

Thank you for this thoughtful response, Myles! I have also been looking for info on the website to possibly submit comment via email, but haven't found anything yet!

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