YARMOUTH —  The latest plan to complete a controversial link in the Beth Condon Memorial Pathway along Route 1 would eliminate one of four travel lanes beneath the East Main Street overpass.

The proposed reduction reflects the town’s new long-range plan to have only two travel lanes in the Route 1 commercial corridor and install several roundabouts intended to make the highway safer and create a village atmosphere.

The change also anticipates the state’s plan to add a northbound on-ramp at Exit 15 of Interstate 295, possibly as early as 2013, which would reduce traffic in the Route 1 corridor that stretches two miles north to Exit 17.

“By eliminating a travel lane under the East Main Street bridge, we’re getting in front of our long-range plan for Route 1,” said Town Council Chairman Steve Woods. “We’re not going to be tearing up Route 1 and putting in roundabouts anytime soon, but we’re moving in that direction.”

On Thursday, the council authorized town officials to seek approval from the Maine Department of Transportation to eliminate a travel lane on the southbound side of Route 1, where it runs beneath the East Main Street overpass.

Eliminating a travel lane would address concerns of some town officials who worry that extending the Beth Condon Memorial Pathway beneath the overpass would squeeze four travel lanes, create a safety hazard for drivers and pedestrians and make snow removal difficult.

The town would build an elevated sidewalk beneath the overpass on the southbound side of the highway, connecting two sections of the pathway that were built in 2006. The first section was built in 1997, four years after teenager Beth Condon was killed by a drunken driver while walking along Route 1.

MDOT officials have indicated they are open to eliminating a lane, said Town Manager Nat Tupper. The state agency has agreed to spend $400,000 in federal transportation money on the pathway link. The council decided last fall to spend as much as $100,000 from surplus funds to cover the town’s share of the $500,000 project.

Also on Thursday, the council endorsed a long-range Route 1 improvement plan that was developed by Gorrill-Palmer Consulting Engineers of Gray and the town’s Gateways Committee, which advises the council on ways to enhance Yarmouth’s transportation gateways.

The long-range plan applies to a section of Route 1, between exits 15 and 17 of I-295, that carries 13,000 to 14,000 vehicles per day, including drivers traveling to and from the village center along Main Street.

The plan’s goals are to reduce travel speeds; improve pedestrian, bicycle and motor vehicle safety; and manage traffic with fewer vehicle stops and starts, which would reduce air and water pollution.

The plan recommends various changes in the corridor, including the addition of roundabouts at Portland Street, Forest Falls Drive, East Main Street and Route 88, as well as near the Travis Roy Ice Arena and the Hannaford Supermarket. The roundabout at Portland Street would be a longer, modified version known as a “bowtie,” which would harness and direct traffic from several roads.

No specific work has been approved and no money has been allocated for Route 1 improvements beyond the pathway project, Tupper said. Each roundabout would cost about $1 million.

“You wouldn’t have to build them all at once – you could pull them off as you go,” Tupper said. “The town doesn’t have the money now, but when it does, we’ll be ready.”

Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at: kbouchard@pressherald.com

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