By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
     Scarborough residents fed up with motorists speeding through their neighborhoods could see the implementation of a new traffic calming policy that would provide a process for neighborhoods to bring their concerns to public safety officials.
      After a resident brought Cape Elizabeth’s newly adopted traffic calming policy to her attention, Town Councilor Sylvia Most asked Town Manager Ron Owens to provide the council with copies of the policy.
      On Tuesday, Most said the procedures in the policy are similar to those Scarborough currently follows, but she said having the procedures in writing would help residents understand when and where certain steps can be taken.
       She said a consistent policy would be beneficial for both residents and municipal staff, who don’t always have a solution that is acceptable to residents across the board.
      “Without something like this, it gets a little disjointed,” Most said. For example, she said residents might question, “Why in Portland do they have raised speed tables and we can’t have them here?”
      Adopted by the Cape Elizabeth Town Council on April 9, the policy calls for a traffic calming policy and improved access to safe pathways and walkways for bicyclists and pedestrians.
      Recommendations for accomplishing those objectives were brought forward by a Traffic Calming/Road Safety Working Group. Cynthia Dill, chair of the group and town councilor said the group includes representatives from the police department, planning department, public works, a bike safety group and a local developer.
      The policy outlines three tiers of control measures: passive, standard, and physical alteration. To make a request for traffic calming, a resident must first submit a written request to the police department. The police department will then conduct a speed study. If the average speed does not exceed five miles per hour, the department may implement passive control measures such as speed notification sign boards, neighborhood mailings, or increased police enforcement.
      If the study indicates speeds exceeding five miles per hour and 51 percent of area households agree that traffic calming measures are needed, the department will conduct a traffic volume study. Should the volume study show a traffic count of more than 100 cars during the peak hour, the department may implement standard measures including turn restrictions, plantings and pavement markings.
      An area meeting all of the previous criteria and in the vicinity of a school zone, but lacking a sidewalk could meet the requirements for physical alteration measures including speed tables, pedestrian refuge islands, traffic circles, or plantings.
      Cape Elizabeth Police Chief Neil Williams said as of yet the department had not received any written requests for a speed study.
 “I don’t know that it’s fresh in their minds right now,” he said, adding that residents are likely too busy with personal matters at this time. He also said the department frequently conducts speed studies and places speed notification boards throughout the town and residents see the department’s efforts to enforce speed limits.
      Most said traffic complaints in Scarborough are regarding both the volume and speed of traffic. She said Maple Avenue, a connector between Route One and Route 114, is a “perpetual problem.” Speed traps and the installation of more stop signs has had mixed results, she said. She also said Holmes Road and Burnham Road, in the western part of town, are frequented by speeding motorists.
      One challenge in implementing a traffic calming policy, Most said, is “a great deal of speeding is caused by people that actually live in the neighborhood.” She added, however, that doesn’t “make it any less serious for the person who has cars speeding by their house.”
      On Tuesday, Town Councilor Carol Rancourt said she received a call from a resident questioning why the town was spending money on removal of hazardous structures when traffic is the real issue facing the town.
      Rancourt said narrowing roads to allow for wider bicycling and walking shoulders was a component of the policy that stuck out for her.
      “If you have a narrower road, you’re apt to go slower,” she said. She said traffic calming would be a byproduct of improving safe pedestrian and bike access.
      Owens said the next step would be to distribute copies of Cape Elizabeth’s policy to the town’s public safety, planning, police, fire and public works departments.
      He agreed most of what the policy entails is already in place in Scarborough, but the Cape Elizabeth model could be a useful guidance tool.
      Owens said the issue would likely be discussed in the coming months and if a formal policy came forward, it would likely be in August or September.