A Safe Streets for All grant in the amount of $800,000 given to the Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG) will enable three demonstration projects in Saco to be funded.
Demonstration projects have lower costs but are highly impactful. They are easily installed and oriented towards safety and can be easily reversed if necessary.
In 2025, temporary speed tables were installed near the Main Street crosswalk at the primary entrance of Thornton Academy. The demonstration project was successful, with traffic speeds averaging five miles per hour slower when the tables were in place. As a result, a permanent installation is planned for later this year.
From Cutts Avenue south to Water Street along Main Street, crosswalks will be improved and realigned with painted medians created. This project is expected to result in safer conditions for pedestrians and will be started next month.
A third project will be undertaken next year. The details of the project are still to be determined. Flyer printing can be used to inform residents of such projects and their safety benefits for the community.
Staff from GPCOG and the city have identified Main Street as a “critical safety corridor.” It experiences a high rate of crashes that mostly involve bicyclists and pedestrians. Cashel Stewart, a transportation planner with GPCOG, said that the street does have sidewalks which are used but the design of the street makes it riskier for crashes in the future.
