The design for pedestrian improvements at Main and Montello streets and Landry Road in Lewiston shows sidewalk and ramp upgrades, rapid flashing beacons and new median islands to provide pedestrians with relief from navigating traffic. City of Lewiston

LEWISTON — The city is slated to get a number of upgrades to busy intersections next year in an effort to make crossings safer.

Staff from the city and its consultant on the project presented the details during a virtual meeting Wednesday, laying out the proposals for four intersections.

Brandon Havu, an engineer with consultant Gorrill Palmer, said the projects are part of the national Heads Up campaign for pedestrian safety. All four intersections will receive rapid flashing beacons, which indicate when a pedestrian is crossing, while others will see new median islands and curb extensions to shorten crossing distances.

Other work will be make American Disability Act improvements to sidewalk ramps and landings.

According to the presentation, the Main Street corridor sees roughly 20,000 vehicles a day, while Sabattus Street sees about 10,000.

At the intersection of Sabattus, Oak and Bartlett streets, curb extensions will be installed to shorten crossing distances, as well as flashing beacons.

At Sabattus, Howe and Wood streets, pedestrian ramp improvements and a flashing beacon will be installed.

The intersection of Main and Montello streets and Landry Road will receive ramp improvements, beacons, new median islands to provide pedestrian refuge and curb line adjustments to shorten crossing distances.

Travis Landry, an engineer with Gorrill Palmer, said the idea behind each plan is to make pedestrians more visible to motorists as well as create a safer crossing.

Havu said the final piece is adding a new crossing on Main Street between Bearce and Montello streets. It will include new ramps, median islands and a flashing beacon.

A new pedestrian crossing is planned in Lewiston on Main Street between Bearce and Montello streets City of Lewiston

He said the location was chosen specifically due to its proximity to the Looking Ahead Clubhouse, a program for adults with mental illness, and a Citylink bus stop.

“It seemed like an area that had a reasonably high demand for a crossing,” he said, adding that the installation of median islands and extension of curb lines “do a lot to help.”

Jeff Beaule, city engineer in Lewiston, said the design work will be completed soon, and the city is hoping for construction next year. He said the city will be updating the public on the project as it moves forward, but 2024 is “the goal.”

All together, the projects are estimated to cost just over $1 million.

Maine set a record of 21 pedestrian deaths in 2022.

In February, the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments received $200,000 for a “corridor improvement study” conducted by the Androscoggin Transportation Resource Center. Its focus will be high-accident corridors such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge area that links Auburn and Lewiston, as well as the “primary feeder arterials” of Center Street in Auburn and Main Street in Lewiston.

Between 2016 and 2020, there were 31 motor vehicle fatalities in the Androscoggin Transportation Resource Center region, and during the same period, 10% of the 2,592 injury-involved crashes within the region occurred within the proposed project corridor.

In December 2022, two pedestrian accidents, including one death, occurred in a single night in Lewiston. Those accidents occurred at intersections on Lisbon Street and East Avenue, and on Park Street.