Temporary Traffic Calming Treatments
The week of September 23rd the Town will be installing temporary traffic calming treatments to improve safety and enhance walkability in the Village Center. Slower streets support quality of living and mobility for our residents, in particular children, families, and seniors. We have planned for this test with support from Maine DOT, Bicycle Pedestrian Coalition of Maine, Build Maine, Ransom Consulting and Greater Portland Council of Governments. Public works has been collecting speed data over the past several months to understand how fast drivers are actually going. Staff and volunteers from Economic Development Sustainability Committee and Living Well North Yarmouth participated in special training to support the effort. These treatments have been designed to make it less comfortable to speed, and we hope the test creates a condition that changes driver behavior. Because this is a test, we will observe how the treatments are working and make adjustments as needed. We will look forward to evaluating the project after one month and holding a public meeting to continue talking about how we make North Yarmouth’s streets safer for everyone.
Staff supporting this effort include Clark Baston, Road Commissioner, and Vanessa L. Farr, the Town’s Economic Development Consultant. Seed funding for this project was awarded to the town through a planning grant from the Community Development Block Grant program, and provided by Greater Portland Council of Governments. Additional in-kind technical support and materials are being provided by Bicycle Pedestrian Coalition of Maine and Build Maine.
Volunteers in training at Build Maine’s Street Activation workshop held in Lewiston in June 2019