By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
Richard Berman, a local developer and member of the Cape Elizabeth Roadway Safety and Traffic Calming Working Group, admits a design workshop for an intersection may not sound too glamorous, but he is excited about it.
“When you come into these village centers, you could come in and it could be beautiful and striking and slow you down,” Berman said.
This Saturday, the group will host a community design workshop to generate ideas about the town center intersection or the crossings of Route 77, Shore Road and Scott Dyer Road.
The workshop will run from 8 a.m. to noon at town hall. The public is invited to meet with the Roadway Safety Working Group over coffee and pastries, take in a presentation on intersection design techniques and participate in a site visit on foot. Following the visit, participants will return to town hall, break into groups and brainstorm design ideas. Representatives from the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) will be available to assist in the process.
MDOT Project Manager Shawn Smith expects to attend the workshop.
“This is sort of a unique situation,” he said. “It isn’t the first time we’ve done a design workshop, [but] a standard project normally doesn’t require it. We felt that this would be the best way to kind of further the public input.”
Public comments during a Sept. 19 public hearing reflected a need to improve the safety and efficiency of the intersection for both motorists and pedestrians, while retaining the feel of a rural town center.
MDOT’s preliminary plans call for a realignment of Scott Dyer Road and Shore Road, which are currently offset by 110 feet. A traffic signal would replace the current blinking yellow and red light. A concrete island would designate a left turn lane onto Scott Dyer Road from Route 77, one inch in elevation, stretching north from the town hall to Jonesy’s service station. Two triangular, slightly raised concrete islands would also be constructed within the intersection to slow traffic.
Smith has said the project is estimated to cost $880,000. The Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation Committee (PACTS) has awarded Cape Elizabeth a $437,000 grant, consisting of federal, state and local dollars.  
After gathering more public input, Smith said the goal is to advertise the project in the spring of 2008 and begin construction in the summer of 2008.
“It’s an aggressive schedule, but I think we can still do it,” he said.
Berman said MDOT does a “very good job of looking at vehicular traffic,” but there are several issues to consider when designing the intersection.
He referenced the addition of landscaping and choker islands to intersections in Falmouth and Yarmouth as possibilities for the town center. Berman also said the town should consider how trails such as the Robinson Woods system will link to the intersection, as it would increase pedestrian traffic to the site. In the future, Berman also has “visions of a multi-use trail along Shore Road.”
Cynthia Dill, state representative, town councilor and chairman of the Roadway Safety Working Group, has similar ideas about the intersection.
“My vision is an intersection that is attractive and is an entrance to our little town whether that means nice lights, plantings [or] stones,” Dill said. “I guess my vision is also the intersection is geared as much toward pedestrians and cyclists as it is toward cars.”
Dill said she hopes the final design will have less pavement and more sidewalks.
“We realize [MDOT] has a certain level of authority with respect to the final design because of state and federal funds,” she said. “We can’t have gold plated sidewalks obviously, but everything I’ve heard is that the DOT is going to be receptive.”
Smith said the intersection will require a “balancing act” between the public’s hopes for the project and budget constraints. He said the project already includes a limited landscaping budget and said additional plantings would be the town’s responsibility.
Overall, Smith said, MDOT will try to incorporate residents’ suggestions.
“If we can take their comments and make it work and make it safe and it doesn’t cause other issues down the road, we’ll certainly consider them,” he said. “It may open the door to an issue we’re not seeing or a solution we’re not seeing as well.”
Berman hopes others will come out to share their ideas.
“We do have a lot of talented people in Cape Elizabeth as well as stakeholders,” he said. “We all go through that intersection every day. I think it deserves our creativity and energy to come up with something we’ll all be proud of.”