KINGFIELD — Maine’s Department of Transportation plans to improve Route 27, and residents have been offered an opportunity to share their hopes for their village street makeover.

MDOT plans to reconstruct the section through Main Street as part of their Highway Corridor Priority plan. Much of the traffic through Kingfield travels to and from Carrabassett Valley’s Sugarloaf Ski Resort and Canada. Logging trucks and other large commercial vehicles maneuver through the narrow center of town.

Two dozen residents and property owners attended an informational meeting Thursday night to review the Topsham-based Wright Pierce Engineering Firm’s collaboration with the town’s Road Reconstruction Committee.

Committee Chairman David Guernsey listed possible goals, obstacles and benefits, pointing to strategic points on a 10-foot long wall map in Webster Hall. The committee, MDOT, and Wright Pierce representatives have worked on these challenges regularly for the past two years, but Guernsey cautioned the audience that plans were far from complete.

Downtown parking continues to be a challenge.

“We’ve lost the perpendicular parking,” Guernsey said. “They need 26 feet from the back of the car to the center of the road.”

Additionally, he said, plows needs a minimum of 16 feet from Main Street centerline to the face of any curb.

Tammy and John Goldfrank, owners of Longfellow’s Restaurant, asked about alternatives to losing two spaces in front of their establishment. Tenants in nearby apartment buildings also park overnight on Main Street, so losing parking spaces would compound the problem.

“People will drive through and say, ‘It’s a cute little town, and I wish we could stop,'” Tammy Goldfrank said.

The town has little leeway in managing any part of the project, Guernsey said, and could only make recommendations and requests.

“We can’t do fishes and loaves,” Guernsey said. “The state can say, ‘Hey, these are our parking spaces and not yours.'”

The town does not have a public parking lot, Donald Tranten said. The Tranten family operates grocery stores in Farmington and Kingfield, and he suggested residents look at ways to connect streets and share off-street parking options.

Complicating the issue for the Kingfield committee is the lack of information about property lines, easements, rights of way and whether some parcels are town-owned or private.

Keegen Ballard, a University of Maine at Farmington intern, presented some of the improvements incorporated in Farmington’s roadway reconstruction. Many of the changes included improved drainage control. Improved signage at intersections, sidewalk and business flower boxes, and improved landscaping could promote a warmer feeling to the downtown section.

Guernsey said MDOT standards include 11-foot travel lanes and 5-foot paved shoulders, with pedestrian safety as a priority. Parking is prohibited within 20 feet of any crosswalks, within 10 feet of driveway entrances, 15 feet from hydrants, and 25 feet from street intersections.

The state engineers have been willing to collaborate with the town, but Kingfield officials may have to foot the bill for extras that aren’t part of the state’s funding options, he said. MDOT will pay for granite curbing in some sections, because asphalt deteriorates faster. The town may want to find funding for new streetlights, an improved sidewalk system or other village enhancements, he said.

The MDOT schedule depends on available time and money, Guernsey said. These engineering plans are part of the first step. Kingfield could submit a list of considerations and requests by the end of 2013, and MDOT will develop their schedule, including a request for federal and state funds. Continued funding for all Maine road projects would be approved in the following legislative session.