Minutes
EAST VASSALBORO SIDEWALK AND TRAFFIC CALMING SUB-COMMITTEE
MINUTES of THE MEETING
(11/12/07)
Members present: Pam Colvin, Bob Turner, Holly Weidner
Minutes prepared by Bob Turner & Pam Colvin
The East Vassalboro Sidewalk & Traffic Calming Sub-committee held its first meeting at the home of Pam Colvin & Bob Turner on South Stanley Hill Rd. at 7:15 on November 12th. The first order of business was to compare notes and prepare a written summary of the 10/18/07 East Vassalboro Village walking tour and presentation at the East Vassalboro Grange by Dan Stewart, Bicycle & Pedestrian Program Manager at Maine D.O.T. This was accomplished and is included for approval as a separate document.
After a brief discussion, it was the consensus of the sub-committee that one option to consider strongly is that of constructing paved shoulder walkways along the four proposed routes instead of raised sidewalks. It was thought that this option might offer the following advantages:
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Fewer engineering problems
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Less occupation of residential roadside land in the very narrow streets of the village
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Elimination of the need for a sidewalk plowing machine and public works labor to clear raised sidewalks
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Greater variability of use: everyone could use paved shoulders including equestrians, pedestrians, cyclists, roller bladders, joggers, etc….
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Less overall cost
It was felt that a one-side-of-the-road paved shoulder on Rt 32 North and South and on the South Stanley Hill & Bog Roads, with a well defined white line, would accomplish many of the goals of sidewalks (spelled out in the accompanying report of the 10/18/2007 Grange Hall Meeting document).
We were unclear as to whether the state would consider supporting and funding such a project without raised sidewalks. Bob will communicate with Dan Stewart to investigate this option.
The committee feels that crosswalks in the East Vassalboro Village area are very important regardless of whether we pursue raised sidewalks or just paved shoulders. Crosswalks, along with some sort of signage marking the crosswalks, might help with traffic calming and promote pedestrian safety in general. The Sub-committee agreed that further investigation into the process of creating crosswalks needs to be done.
It was decided that Bob, after this meeting and the meeting of The Vassalboro Trails Committee on 11/14/07, would email Dan Stewart with a list of questions that need to be answered.
Bob discussed a chance encounter that he had a couple of weeks ago with a state bridge engineer regarding the bridge on South Stanley Hill Road. Bob can not recall his name but the engineer lives in Vassalboro and undoubtedly could be tracked down. The engineer stated that even though the bridge was built about 80 years ago that it is still structurally sound. He said that there are no plans for rebuilding it at this time.
He did note, along with Bob, that there are drainage issues with the bridge and that erosion along the south side is undermining the tar surface. The sub-committee thought that this might present an opportunity to request repairs and upgrading. After looking at the bridge for several minutes, the engineer felt that the best option for accommodating pedestrian traffic would probably be to widen the bridge on the south side, making it wide enough to allow for a paved shoulder w/ or w/o a sidewalk. Bob will explore this further.
A survey of all East Vassalboro Village residents whose property would be directly impacted by paved shoulders or sidewalks is planned in the future, once we are clearer on what we might be proposing.
The next meeting of the sub-committee is planned for 1/9/08. An effort will be made before then to recruit more interested committee members and citizen participation. A time and place for the meeting will be announced.