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South Berwick committee reviews draft Active Transportation Plan and outlines demonstration projects
Summary
The town’s transportation workshop reviewed a draft Active Transportation Plan that lists 64 recommendations and prioritizes 20 high‑scoring projects; staff highlighted three candidate demonstration projects (Portland Street bike lanes, Lower Main Street parklet/crossing improvements, Norton Street traffic calming) and set plan adoption for the July 14 council meeting.
The South Berwick transportation workshop on Zoom reviewed a draft Active Transportation Plan and a prioritized list of recommended pedestrian and bicycle improvements. Phil Gop, senior active transportation planner with BHP, presented a 64‑recommendation plan informed by crash data, traffic counts and community outreach and said the report includes options for short‑term, low‑cost demonstration projects to test changes in real conditions.
"My name is Phil Gop. I'm a senior active transportation planner with BHP," Phil said while outlining outreach that included a steering committee with Paul Schumacher and Sam Dickstrom, a public meeting and a harvest‑festival popup. He told the committee the plan scored projects against seven goals (safety, comfort, connectivity among them) and produced a top‑20 of projects concentrated in downtown South Berwick.
The workshop highlighted three candidate concept designs selected for further demonstration or study: Portland Street (buffered or separated bike lanes, alternating curbside parking to create a chicane effect and enhanced crosswalks), Lower Main Street (relocated crosswalks, bumpouts, median islands and a seasonal parklet demonstration), and Norton Street (a proposal to make a block one‑way for motor vehicles while preserving bicycle and emergency access and adding speed cushions). Phil described a potential 400–500 foot demonstration strip on Portland Street that could be implemented with striping and community participation.
Residents and committee members pressed for near‑term actions where possible. Speakers noted the longer timeline for a separately proposed traffic signal project — described in the workshop as an approximately $4 million construction item dependent on federal funding and possible earmarks — and urged the town to pursue local, temporary measures while larger projects await funding.
Mallerie, vice chair, said the council will place formal adoption of the plan on its July 14 agenda and requested that the public works director and police chief attend the council discussion. Phil and others recommended forming an implementation team to coordinate repaving schedules, DOT coordination where required, demonstration logistics and evaluation metrics (counts and before/after observations).
The presentation materials and a map of the top‑ranked projects are available in the draft report. The next procedural step is the council discussion and potential adoption at the July 14 meeting; no formal vote on adoption occurred during the workshop.
