Portland - General Infrastructure

I thought Portland voted no support because they wanted an additional study to be completed about the potential for mass transit along that corridor. My memory could be severely outdated though.
 
mainejeff said:
Buses suck. Until "mass transit" includes some type of rail....forget about it.

And to add to this....I wonder how EVs will effect thinking on mass transit? Yes, battery disposal is an issue although they are building a recycling center next to the Tesla battery factory in Nevada. If battery disposal can be solved.....I see that as a major blow to mass transit in some areas like Maine where the population density and geography work against a major mass transit push.
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In the not so distant future, battery disposal will be a non-issue as they are developing new batteries currently that will have basically no environmental impact from the substances used in their production. Lithium ion batteries will soon be a thing of the past which will not only save cleanup costs but eliminate the need for the mining of rare earth metals in favor of abundant metal/chemical resources.
 
Part of Portland's concern is the number of commuters the extension would speed into downtown. I have to wonder (and I don't know if it's reflected in the Turnpike studies on the connector) how many of those trips are actually heading to/from the peninsula, as opposed to the various employment centers in the Mall area or just straight to the Turnpike.
 
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Spotted these outside of the Lafayette Apartments this morning
 
Transit Together study has come up with two scenarios for improving bus service and have put them both out with a survey - I would have grabbed the images, but they have some slider maps which are a better way to view the changes.

https://www.transittogether.org/
 
nomc said:
Transit Together study has come up with two scenarios for improving bus service and have put them both out with a survey - I would have grabbed the images, but they have some slider maps which are a better way to view the changes.

https://www.transittogether.org/
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That site would have been far more informative if they had done a better job of individually contrasting the two plans with the current service levels.
 
markhb said:
That site would have been far more informative if they had done a better job of individually contrasting the two plans with the current service levels.
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I agree
 
workoutanytime said:
Spotted these outside of the Lafayette Apartments this morning
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I started another thread about this issue in Boston, but do these include helmets? I thought everybody who bikes is supposed to wear a helmet nowadays? It seems like we are encouraging unsafe behaviors from the tourist population.
 
Connect 2045, the long range transportation plan for greater Portland, includes priority projects. Inclusion of a project in Connect 2045 is a critical first step in the funding process but does not guarantee a project will be funded. Some of these projects could have a major positive impact on how we move throughout the region.

In the roadway/multimodal already funded category, there’s great stuff like the Beth Condon Multi-Use Path Extension and Saco Island Multimodal Bridge. Looking ahead, the selected projects in the 2026-2030 category provide a lot to be enthusiastic about like phase 1 of the Franklin St. urban street conversion project, the Forest Ave. modernization and complete streets project, a separated bike lane on the Casco Bay Bridge, and completing the southern extension of the Beth Condon Multi-Use Path.

The selected projects for 2031-2035 include Franklin St. phase 2, Commercial Street modernization and complete streets project (two-way cycle-track connecting the future terminus of the West Commercial Street Path (at High Street) and the Eastern Prom Trail!), and the Mountain Division Rail-Trail broken into two segments but ultimately connecting Portland and Windham.

The selected projects for 2036-2040 include 8 miles of separated bikeways in Portland, additional money for the planned multi use path connecting Freeport to Portland (Casco Bay Trail), a much needed redesign of exit 6 on 295, and the Over the River Eastern Trail initiative which will connect Biddeford and Saco. I’m a little surprised to see Over the River associated with this timeframe as the ETA is currently fund raising for this project and they appear confident in an earlier completion date.

Transit projects in the next couple of years include funding for frequency and service upgrades, TSP, and a Biddeford-Saco-Portland rapid transit corridor analysis.

They’ve included relocation of the Portland Transit Center in the aspirational category. I wish there was a firmer date, as relocating to the preferred location (Congress and St. John) will make a huge difference for passengers. I probably just missed it but I didn’t see reference to the current conversation about better connecting Gorham and Portland. That is identified as the highest priority corridor for transit improvements so it’ll be interesting to see what comes of that effort.

Overall, there’s some good stuff in the mix and I’m hopeful that pedestrians and cyclists will see improvements in the short and mid term. On the transit front, what’s being considered seems like an honest appraisal of our small metro population and the funding the area is likely to see. While not glamorous, TSP and increased frequency could really improve the user experience of METRO.

Connect 2045 can be accessed here- https://www.gpcog.org/DocumentCenter/View/2538/Connect-2045-Draft-Plan-PDF
Appendix C with additional project details is here- https://www.gpcog.org/DocumentCenter/View/2590/Connect-2045-Appendix-C-Summary-of-Projects-PDF
 
Thanks for sharing, Tom. Really excited about those bicycle/pedestrian and mass transit enhancements on the roadmap. I wish it would all happen tomorrow but at least the wheels are turning in the right direction.
 
A New York Times reporter found something relevant to this forum to discuss while she was on vacation:
SEARSPORT, Maine — In 2019, when Celine Kelley’s daughter was born, there were 13 births and 31 deaths in the coastal town of Searsport — a familiar phenomenon in a state where deaths had outpaced births for more than a decade.
But the pandemic brought a countervailing force. Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire have seen an uptick in new residents arriving from other states, more than 50,000 across the three states since April 2020, even as other Northeastern states — and especially large metro areas — have experienced a surge in out-migration. While experts say it is unclear if the blip will become a lasting trend in largely rural northern New England, Ms. Kelley already sees both good and bad effects.
With more children showing up, she said, it feels more certain that her 3-year-old will have activities to join, from youth soccer to Easter egg hunts in the park. But Ms. Kelley also owns a cafe and bakery in Searsport, a town of 2,600 about two hours north of Portland, and as she watches her employees struggle to find housing in a market gone wild, she worries about unintended consequences.
One of her kitchen workers just moved back in with his parents, she said; another lives in a house with no running water, unable to afford rent elsewhere while making repairs. Many residents make do in drafty, run-down trailers.
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It sounds to me like a lot of the problems stem from the simple fact that Maine is extremely cheap if you have savings from a New York or Boston salary, which drives up the price of all the comparatively cheap housing in the state, making housing completely unaffordable for locals. I have friends who have left Portland for this exact reason, and more recently they've talked about how even small towns farther from the coast are increasing in price.

I thought this quotation from the end of the article was pertinent:
Ms. Grotton said her family of five is on a waiting list for an affordable apartment complex nearby. Larger units are hard to come by, but she hopes a spot will open up before her children, now 8, 5 and 3, need more space and privacy.
She noted another link between population and housing: “I know people who stopped having kids,” she said, “because they’ve seen how the rest of us struggle.”
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So... basically every town's gotta build a lot more public housing!
 
Pull this one out of Crazy Transit Pitches and move it to reality: After 40+ years, South Portland is merging its bus service into Metro.

www.mainepublic.org

South Portland agrees to consolidate bus service with METRO

South Portland has operated its own bus service since it left METRO back in 1983 but is expected to return to the Portland regional system before the end of the year.
www.mainepublic.org www.mainepublic.org
 
markhb said:
Pull this one out of Crazy Transit Pitches and move it to reality: After 40+ years, South Portland is merging its bus service into Metro.

www.mainepublic.org

South Portland agrees to consolidate bus service with METRO

South Portland has operated its own bus service since it left METRO back in 1983 but is expected to return to the Portland regional system before the end of the year.
www.mainepublic.org www.mainepublic.org
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I remember back then when the Metro was just awful, run by a manager who didn't give a Damm about the system, didn't want to improve the system, was against buying new equipment, was against putting A/C in the busses because it was a few months of the year, "so just open the windows" while the drivers and passenger's swelter. Linda Cohen's Mom pushed to split from Portland. Metro eliminated routes, stops, etc to be cheap cheap cheap. So Metro said screw you and SOPO bus was created. Now 40 years later, SOPO can barely run the buses. The buses were purchased from a grant from the state over 10 years ago. Metro is also pushing for electric buses which falls in the one climate change push in SOPO. I am hoping that now we can bring back service to Cape Elizabeth via 77 or the shore road. Metro was also planning a route from SMCC to the Gorham Campus.
 
I remember the bus running to Crescent Beach when I was a kid, although I never took it there. This also makes Scarborough a possible member as well. I'd actually hope Biddeford-Old Orchard Beach-Saco stays separate, just for the acronym they could never officially use but everyone else should.
 
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