Final Report - VHB.com

4.9 Strategy 2C – Improve Mobility along Mill Street
Strategy 2C involves the evaluation of measures to improve vehicular, bicycle, and
pedestrian mobility along Mill Street between the Pleasant Street/Stanwood Street
intersection and the Maine Street/Mill Street interchange. Strategy 2C is primarily
intended to reduce congestion and vehicle conflicts by increasing the number of
travel lanes and by installing a raised median.
The Study Area for Strategy 2C encompasses the Mill Street (US Route 1) corridor,
beginning at Pleasant Street and extending easterly for approximately 0.45 mile to
the Mill Street/Maine Street interchange ramps. The Study Area is also bounded by
the Androscoggin River to the north and a residential neighborhood to the south.
The Study Area is located entirely within the Town of Brunswick. Based on input
from the Study Advisory Committee and feedback from the public workshops and
public informational meetings, two study options were developed. The following
subsections describe the features of the two Strategy 2C options.
4.9.1 Option 1
Option 1 (Figure 4-15) entails adding a continuous eastbound travel lane that results
in two eastbound and one westbound travel lanes. This lane configuration matches
the two existing eastbound and one westbound through lanes located in the
depressed Mill Street section under Maine Street. The typical roadway section
includes a continuous
raised median,
shoulders, and
sidewalks through the
Study Area. The raised
median does not have
breaks in it; therefore,
left turns into and out of
the side streets are
prohibited in Option 1.
Widening Mill Street to
accommodate the
additional eastbound lane results in minor slope impacts. The Mill Street widening in
the vicinity of Sage Hill worsens the already steep approach grade; therefore, the
Study investigates the closing of the steep approach and instead connecting Sage Hill
to Cumberland Street by a 400-foot-long connector road. Therefore, the Cumberland
Street, Swett Street, and Cushing Street intersections with Mill Street become rightin/right-out.
Summary of Options 123