The city of South Portland and the Greater Portland Council of Governments has installed several traffic calming treatments in Cash Corner. The installations will be in place for a trial period of two months, with removal anticipated for early October.

Based on traffic data collected in the spring and a survey that yielded more than 160 responses, the biggest traffic issues identified were: large truck traffic on neighborhood streets, speeding, cut-thru traffic and limited bike/pedestrian accommodations. To address the issues, planners proposed several treatments.

Among the popular were enhanced signage directing truck traffic away from neighborhood streets and adding stop signs at strategic locations.

People traveling through Cash Corner can expect to see the following installations.

Curb extensions to deter truck traffic and create safer bike/pedestrian conditions at three locations: (Pleasant/Cash, Pleasant/Rosedale, Strout/Broadway).
New stop signs, creating a four-way stop (Pleasant/Hemco/Cash).
Enhanced truck routing signage (Main/railroad tracks, Main/Dairy Queen, Peary/Broadway, Strout/Broadway, Pleasant/Broadway).
Diagonal road closure to deter truck traffic on neighborhood streets (Kingston/Thadeus).
Bike route signage and sharrow road markings on Strout Street, Skillings Street, Southeast Road, Orlando Street and Lubec Street. Sharrow markings (a combination of the words “share” and “arrow”) indicate lanes used by both cars and bicycles.
A post-installation survey will be conducted in September in the same manner as the pre-intervention survey – delivered to each mailbox – and online at https://www.southportland.org/departments/planning-and-development/current-initiatives/.

Post-intervention data collection will take place in September.

The $10,000 study is funded through a Maine Department of Transportation contract with the Greater Portland Council of Governments. The organization’s role is to analyze existing conditions and develop a report on traffic calming implementations installed by South Portland.

Sen. Carney to host public office hours

Senator Anne Carney (D-Cape Elizabeth) will hold office hours on Thursday, Sept. 9, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at the Mill Creek Gazebo in South Portland and from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Living Room at Thomas Memorial Library in Cape Elizabeth.

Office hours provide local residents a chance to meet with their representatives to ask questions and get help with legislative or state government matters. Carney will give updates on her legislation from this session and on the Legislature’s work more broadly.

Those who cannot make the event, but who still wish to connect with the senator, can reach out any time at 207-287-1515 or at Anne.Carney@legislature.maine.gov.

Updates from Carney can also be found on Facebook, for those with or without an account, at www.facebook.com/anneformaine. In the event of inclement weather, check Sen. Carney’s Facebook page for information about a rain date.

Sen. Carney represents Senate District 29, which includes Cape Elizabeth, South Portland, and part of Scarborough.

Rotary Club donates to college scholarship fund

The Rotary Club of South Portland-Cape Elizabeth has donated $60,000 to the Southern Maine Community College Foundation to fund annual scholarships for students.

The Rotary Club issued a check to the Southern Maine Community College Foundation on July 29 to establish the South Portland-Cape Elizabeth Rotary Vocational Scholarship fund. The goal is to award at least two scholarships of $1,500 per year.

For years, the Rotary Club has provided funding for scholarships for Southern Maine Community College students, but wanted to formalize its relationship with the college by establishing an endowment that would fund scholarships in perpetuity.

“It is my distinct privilege to present $60,000 to SMCC from our charitable fund,” said SPCE Rotary Club President Dr. David Bagdasarian in an Aug. 23 news release. “These scholarships will help students achieve their educational goals, enable the Rotary Club to support community college education, and enhance our longstanding relationship with SMCC.”

Southern Maine Community College President Joe Cassidy, left, and Dr. David Bagdasarian, president of the Rotary Club of South Portland-Cape Elizabeth, hold a check for $60,000 the club donated to the Southern Maine Community College Foundation for student scholarships.

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