Dennis Cox outlines Elm Street reconstruction; committee backs 11-foot lanes and single edge line, to revisit bike markings

Dennis Cox, a presenter at the FedBike Committee meeting in Topsham, summarized the Elm Street reconstruction scope and asked for the committee’s input on striping and bicycle accommodations. Cox said the project will include new curbing and sidewalks on one side, driveway entrances, grinding of the roadway and then striping once paving is complete. “We’re gonna maintain that from Main Street all the way down through to the underpass,” Cox said while explaining lane and centerline plans.

Committee members reviewed three preliminary striping options: 1) simple bicycle symbols within existing lanes, 2) an added solid edge/fog line to create visual 11-foot travel lanes with bikes sharing the shoulder, and 3) a dashed/delineated outer line that could indicate a more persistent bike space when parking is absent. Cox described the technical baseline: pavement widths on Elm vary roughly from about 22 feet under the railroad underpass to about 37 feet at the widest points, and the proposed travel lanes are roughly 11 feet each. “The face of the curve would be about 7 inches tall,” Cox said when describing curb heights and transitions.

The discussion focused heavily on safety at a narrow underpass where the existing sidewalk is too tight for wheelchairs and strollers. One member noted, “the sidewalk under the bridge is not very accessible for anybody on a wheelchair or pushing a stroller,” underscoring calls for ADA-compliant ramps and tip-downs where sidewalks intersect the carriageway. Committee members and Cox also debated sharrows (shared-lane markings) versus a more visible bike lane or dashed delineation; several members said sharrows are often ignored unless supported by signage and maintenance.

Members weighed trade-offs between creating a visible bike space and the reality of on‑street parking and truck traffic on a state-classified connector (Route 24), which limits how narrow travel lanes can be. Several members favored the safety benefit of visually narrower travel lanes to slow traffic. After discussion, the committee supported a two-step approach: install 11-foot travel lanes with a single white edge/fog line when striping occurs after paving, then monitor how that layout functions and decide in spring whether to add a second delineation or bicycle-specific markings.

Next steps: Cox and staff will lay out the centerline and fog lines after paving (paving expected in the coming weeks), add ADA tip-downs and ramps during sidewalk work, and return to the committee in spring or summer to assess whether to add further bicycle markings.