LEWISTON — The city is catching up on a backlog of needed pedestrian improvements and upgrades to problem intersections, highlighted by an upcoming project at Main and Frye streets — the site of a deadly crash last year.
On Monday, the Finance Committee awarded a $68,625 construction bid for the Frye Street project that’s expected to begin late this summer. It will create new, high-visibility crosswalks, among other upgrades, at the intersection where 13-year-old Jayden Cho-Sargent was struck and killed by a motorist on Nov. 3, 2016.
The site had been used for months as a makeshift memorial until it was removed and replaced with a permanent memorial at Sunnyside Park.
The project at Main and Frye streets is just one of a slate of projects planned for the coming year.
The city has embarked on several projects to improve pedestrian safety since Cho-Sargent became the third pedestrian fatality in Lewiston over a one-year span. Earlier this year, officials presented a report on pedestrian safety, which outlined the most dangerous intersections and needed improvements.
In reaction to public concern and the safety report, the City Council this year earmarked nearly $500,000 for pedestrian and transportation-related projects in its Capital Improvement Plan.
The funding in the CIP includes $301,000 for sidewalk maintenance and rehabilitation, and $175,000 for a “Street Crosswalk Evaluation & Implementation Plan.”
According to Lewiston Public Works Director David Jones, those funds will be used to evaluate needs for crosswalk safety and to install rapid-flashing beacons at four locations.
A rapid-flashing beacon also will be installed as part of the Main and Frye streets intersection, on the Main Street side. The improvements also include curb extensions, Americans with Disabilities Act pedestrian ramps and associated curb and drainage work.
Jones said his department is set to meet with the contractor on the project, Glidden Paving of Gorham, to set up a construction schedule. He said the bid contract stipulates the work must be completed by Sept. 29. The project is funded through a cooperative agreement with the Maine Department of Transportation, with the state and Lewiston splitting the cost.
Meanwhile, a focus on pedestrians has continued both within city government and elsewhere in the city. In June, the city adopted a “complete streets” ordinance, which stipulates that any transportation project be designed by taking into account all users of a roadway, not just motorists.
At the same time, a temporary traffic pattern was installed along Lincoln Street as part of this year’s Build Maine conference. The project was meant to test whether low-cost fixes to dangerous roadways can be effective. Feedback on the two-week installation was mixed, but its creators said it did work to slow down vehicular traffic.
The city’s operating budget for this year also includes $43,000 for “high-visibility crosswalk painting,” also known as “piano key” crosswalks. The City Council debated pulling the item from the budget during last-minute budget adjustments, but ultimately voted to fund it.
While the Main and Frye streets project is next up, City Administrator Ed Barrett said there are others in the pipeline to improve pedestrian access.
A state-funded Bartlett Street paving project going to bid this fall will include sidewalk improvements, he said. Another upcoming state project with a local component is the rehabilitation of the Bernard Lown Peace Bridge, which traverses the Androscoggin River on Oxford Street. Construction is set to start in the spring of 2018.
For Lewiston, the $6 million bridge rehab is allowing the city to revamp the section of Oxford Street that flows from the bridge. Currently, the four-lane system causes a claustrophobic feeling. The project will create a two-lane system that will continue into Lewiston, with a center turning lane and designated bicycle lanes.
Barrett said the project will also improve the pedestrian crosswalk at Cedar and Oxford streets.
The city also recently completed work on Bates Street, reducing the number of lanes between Ash and Oak streets while clearly marking the bus lane. According to Barrett, “the lane reduction was intended, in part, to make pedestrian crossings easier at the intersection of Bates and College.”
Also on the horizon: Lewiston’s new elementary school project includes funding for an off-road multiuse path that will connect the new school to Birch Street, he said.
