Maine Department of Transportation representatives will hold a workshop with the Wiscasset and Edgecomb boards of selectmen Wednesday, Sept. 26 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Wiscasset Middle School cafeteria.

The purpose of the workshop is to review and hopefully receive Wiscasset and Edgecomb's concurrence on Maine Department of Transportation’s proposed actions per the Road Safety Audit conducted this past June. It will also provide an update on other activities MDOT is working on regarding Route 1 congestion and safety in Wiscasset and Edgecomb.

Representatives from MDOT, officials from Wiscasset and Edgecomb, citizens, business owners, and representatives of the Regional Planning Committee, reviewed traffic mobility and safety along Route 1 from the Woolwich-Wiscasset town line to the Edgecomb-Newcastle town line on June 4, 2012.

The Road Safety Audit was initiated by MDOT in a joint meeting with the Wiscasset and Edgecomb selectmen last December as an effort to produce feasible and effective strategies for the area by combining the skills of MDOT with local input.

Prior to the audit, MDOT compiled crash data for a 5-year period, from 2007 through 2011, and sent it to the participants of the road safety audit. The audit participants were divided into four teams, and sent to the crash sites to focus on perceived problems in the areas. According to MDOT representative Gerry Audibert, the objectives of the audit were two-fold: examine and identify possible methods to improve vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle safety in the area, secondly develop approaches to reduce traffic delays along Route 1 from the Wiscasset-Woolwich town line to the Edgecomb-Newcastle town line.

The four teams reconvened after the making their observations. They compared their findings and shared their concerns and suggestions for improvements, with the objective that MDOT and the towns would identify the strategies worthy of implementation.  

Audibert will be available from 5 to 6 p.m. before the joint workshop to discuss questions anyone may have. He plans to bring large-scale photographic plan views of the proposed improvements for review as well.