By Suzanne Hodgson
Staff Writer

In 1964 Cape Elizabeth was a quiet town where kids hitchhiked home from high school soccer practice and the police chief knew everyone’s parents.
That year, the Maine Department of Transportation intersected the town’s center with Route 77, leaving Cape Elizabeth with a traffic problem that continues more than 40 years later.
Route 77 has divided not only the town but its residents, who have continued to debate how to make the intersection of Ocean House Road/Route 77, Scott Dyer Road and Shore Road safer and more pedestrian and bicycle friendly.
Some say the intersection is safe, some say it is not, while others say there is a traffic problem, and some say the intersection is fine. While the town continues to grow – 330 new houses will be built before 2020, say planners –  residents still hold firm to their village vision.
This summer, MDOT and Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System warned Cape Elizabeth officials they had to use $365,000 in state and federal grant money approved in 2005 for improvements to the intersection or risk losing the money.
The $365,500 grant, plus a 2008 bond worth $430,926 and $109,425 from the Infrastructure Improvement fund the town established in 2007, would cover $903,851 of the $1 million MDOT estimated it would cost for intersection improvements.  They were to include a stoplight at the intersection and realignment of  Scott Dyer and Shore roads.  Another $176,149 would have been raised from public funds.
The town council, met with protest signs and unhappy residents, rejected the plan late last month.  But concerns over the intersection continue as new committees once again consider how to improve the safety and traffic conditions.
The solution, for now, is red flags pedestrians carry across the intersection to warn oncoming traffic to slow down.  The new Town Center Pedestrian Safety Working Group is discussing adding blinking lights to pedestrian crossing signs, but the signs could come to a vote in the council.
While MDOT does not consider the intersection a high crash area, with only five accidents attributed to driver inattention, increased traffic flow through the intersection is a concern.  MDOT has given the intersection a service-grade of “F” for the wait time drivers have when they turn off Scott Dyer or Shore Road onto Route 77.  The “F” grade is not acceptable under any circumstances, according to the state.
In 2008, the average annual daily traffic was 11,080 vehicles south of Shore Road on Route 77 and 8,310 to the north, with more than 6,000 cars turning onto Route 77 from Scott Dyer and Shore Road. Over the next 20 years traffic is expected to increase by more than 1,000 over the current number of cars passing through Cape Elizabeth’s town center.
While the majority of these cars pass through the town following the state road, Cape Elizabeth residents wait an average 60.8 seconds after dropping their children off at school for a left turn from Scott Dyer Road onto Route 77.  The delay for a left turn from Shore Road onto Route 77 had an average delay of 364.8 seconds per vehicle, or about six minutes.
Wait time at the intersection has been identified as a problem at the intersection since  as early as 1999 and again in 2003 when consultants hired by the town stressed the need for a stoplight in the intersection. Both consultants gave the intersection a failing grade for serving traffic in wait time and congestion.
 “Sometimes when I’m coming to work I sit at the intersection for 10 minutes.  A light would be good, especially during school hours.” said Roxanne Gionest, the manager at Jonseys.

Designing an ideal intersection

In 2005,  the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System approved more than $2 million worth of road construction projects in town, including improvements to the intersection.  The next step was to have MDOT design a plan for improvements to the intersection. Shawn Smith, MDOT project developer, was assigned to Cape Elizabeth intersection plan in 2006, and began work in 2007.
Smith and other MDOT employees held a design workshop, inviting citizens to participate by designing their ideal intersection.  Two of the four plans made by the citizens included a stoplight, and one included a roundabout.  
A roundabout was briefly considered as a solution for traffic, pedestrian and cyclist safety, but was rejected because it would have taken up too much space and was too costly.  
Many committees, including the Traffic Calming Committee and Roadway Safety Working Group have met to discuss improvements to the town center.
Richard Burnham, who worked on the Cape Elizabeth Traffic Calming Committee in 2006, said, “If it doesn’t meet what the town thinks should happen it gets buried.”
The council has previously requested that MDOT change the speed limit for the state road from 35 mph to 25 mph, but that was rejected. Some townspeople say the blinking light has helped alert drivers to the sudden change from the interstate to the town center, although this may not be enough to prevent future accidents
Smith said his plans for the town intersection were almost completed when he was asked in 2008 to stop development. Many municipalities were halting construction plans due to the declining economy, said Smith, and on Aug. 26, Smith was told the project shut down.
The council’s decision came after they read more than 200 e-mails and heard from local residents at the council meeting.
The Town Center Pedestrian Safety Working Group will meet  Sept. 29 to discuss safety issues in the town center. Michael McGovern, town manager, seemed optimistic about the groups results, “Some of the recommendations may come in front of the committee in October.”

Staff Writer Suzanne Hodgson can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.