BELGRADE LAKES — A crew of surveyors in orange vests are spending the week on Main Street, measuring the road and sidewalks for a state upgrade.
The state has upgraded much of Route 27 between Augusta and Farmington, with the 0.3-mile segment in the village center one of the only exceptions.
The Maine Department of Transportation project, which includes new sidewalks and the removal of some of the older trees, could be funded in its 2014-15 capital work plan.
Ted Talbot, spokesman for the Maine Department of Transportation, said the surveyors are gathering information that will be used to plan the scope of the project and to gather information for public hearings.
“If someone wants a bike lane, we would be prepared with more precise data,” Talbot said. “We’re trying to do our advance homework prior to more public input. It’s still up in the air, but the possibilities could, depending on what the public wants, be new sidewalks, bike lanes, crosswalks, or widening of the road. It’s all part of improving the road.”
The Belgrade Lakes Streetscape Committee submitted a 13-year-old streetscape plan for the village to the state that has been updated and approved by selectmen. A streetscape plan is used to provide efficient vehicle movement, sidewalk locations, crosswalks, building setbacks and other design aspects for streets including planting strips and tree species.
Duane Scott, director of the transportation department’s statewide multi-modal planning bureau, said the state will look at the engineering feasibility of those ideas and figure out the price.
Priorities in the streetscape plan include preserving street parking where possible, minimizing storm water drainage, making the village more pedestrian friendly and providing safer sidewalks and enhanced crosswalks.
Tish Carr, the town’s tree warden, said some old trees that line the street will have to come down. The town is in the process of replacing those trees with sugar maple saplings. The new trees will be farther away from the road edge than the existing trees because the sidewalks and road work will widen the road, she said.
Mechele Cooper — 621-5663
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