The crosswalk at the entrance to Wiscasset Community Center will be getting a makeover. Wiscasset selectmen approved the improvements when they met Tuesday night for their regular meeting.

Public Works Director Doug Fowler has been investigating ways to improve the safety of the crosswalk that crosses Route 27, or Gardiner Road, at the community center. This includes the installation of pedestrian-activated flashing lights to better alert motorists of people in the crosswalk. The Rapid Flashing Beacons (RFBs) to be installed are solar-powered.

The posted speed limit on the road is 45 mph,  but because it falls within a school zone, it’s reduced to 15 mph twice daily, in the morning from 7:15 to 8:15 and afternoon from 2:15 to 3:15. Wiscasset Middle High School is next door to the community center. The sidewalk runs on the east side of Route 27 stretching from the school to Route 1 and the municipal building.

Fowler wasn’t able to attend Tuesday night’s meeting but provided the town manager with a memorandum, dated Dec. 9, offering two options for selectmen to consider.

Option A involved extending the sidewalk approximately 40 feet and relocating the crosswalk to land on the northernmost corner of the community center’s entrance road. Fowler noted there are several problems with this option. Among them was the width of the sidewalk on that side of the road, which according to MDOT isn’t suitable for a pedestrian landing. There are also mailboxes and a drainage ditch to contend with. Along with the expense of the sidewalk’s extension, its construction would also impact the abutting property owner. He added the town would also need Maine Department of Transportation approval to relocate the crosswalk.

Option B, Fowler suggested, would be to maintain the existing Route 27 crosswalk and create a second one on the opposite side of the road to cross the community center’s entrance road. Both crosswalks would have RFBs. Signage would be added to alert motorists exiting the community center of the new crosswalk. This plan wouldn’t require extension of the sidewalk or infringe on the abutting property owner. It would also cost significantly less than option A.  

It took the selectmen less than five minutes to decide. On Selectmen’s Vice Chairman Judy Flanagan’s motion they unanimously approved Option B, the less expensive of the two. No timetable was given for when the improvements will be made.