Transforming Forest Avenue Study Leads to Major Accessibility Improvements in Portland, ME

Details

• Alternative Title:
  FHWA's Livable Communities Case Study Series
• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Federal Highway Administration
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Planning, Environment, and Realty
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Livability
  • Transportation planning
  • Environmental policy
  • Pedestrian safety
  • Bicycle safety
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA-HEP-17-038
• Resource Type:
  Brief
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States;Maine
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Federal Highway Administration
• Abstract:
  Forest Avenue is a critical transportation route for Portland, Maine and its surrounding communities, but the corridor has presented safety concerns for pedestrians and bicyclists. The avenue connects the urbanized peninsula to the suburban residential neighborhoods west of Interstate 295. Though the roadway was initially designed to be multimodal, focus on pedestrian, bicycle, and bus accessibility began to diminish during the 1950s and 1960s as focus shifted to vehicle speed, congestion, and road width. The Transforming Forest Avenue study identified a number of areas of concern along the corridor, including Interchange 6 and Woodford’s Corner. The two Interchange 6 ramps at Forest Avenue saw 60-80 vehicular crashes over a three year period, which is seven to ten times the number of expected crashes. At Woodford’s Corner, peak-hour traffic congestion consistently spilled into abutting neighborhoods, creating safety concerns and a nuisance for residents.
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/62879/dot_62879_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 227.85 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Federal Highway Administration
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:84ba0481609a2898149b2e08590229474461385552933911800554bdbe5d0108993d25c8d36de2e7185dcf3186748c8367b2eaafad0d5a7875877e45969b58a2