On Jan. 10, 2024, a utility truck drove off Tukey’s Bridge on I-295 in Portland and landed on the Eastern Promenade Trail, 40 feet below. Miraculously, no one was killed. A similar crash occurred in the same location in Jan. 2002 but with a far more tragic outcome. Four local high school students drove through the guardrail and landed on the trail below, and three of them died. No trail users were injured in either crash, but there’s no guarantee that would be the case if this were to happen here again.

The recent crash is a stark reminder that Tukey’s Bridge is unnecessarily dangerous to both drivers and trail users. When speeding traffic poses a direct threat to pedestrians and cyclists, we must work toward a safer design.

The guardrail currently in place along the northbound side of Tukey’s Bridge is clearly inadequate for keeping vehicles from leaving the roadway and plunging onto the Eastern Promenade Trail and into the ocean. Likewise, the narrow bicycle and pedestrian pathway on the southbound side of Tukey’s Bridge, part of the Back Cove Trail, is only protected from cars by a thin concrete wall that is far from meeting modern transportation safety standards. These are Portland’s two most-used trails, with more than a thousand people walking or biking on Tukey’s Bridge every day.

Tukey’s Bridge is also part of Washington Avenue, a local road that connects the Portland peninsula to East Deering and beyond. Because of fast speeds and a confusing two-lane merge, moving between these adjacent neighborhoods can feel downright dangerous.

The annual report “Dangerous by Design” tells us that, nationwide, our roads are indeed dangerous, and pedestrian deaths are increasing. According to the Press Herald (Jan. 6, 2024), the number of pedestrians hit and killed by vehicles in Maine have increased by 77% over the past decade. There are many reasons for this, road design chief among them.

We must design our roads and highways for safety, not speed. The speed limit on I-295 through Portland is 50mph, but traffic exceeds this speed on a regular basis. We cannot just blame scofflaws or expect enforcement to solve this dangerous speeding problem. The unnecessarily wide roadway design on the bridge encourages drivers to speed at 70mph or more. When a road looks and feels like a more rural highway, most people will drive as fast as they feel comfortable.

The good news is we already have the knowledge and expertise to make our roads safer. Maine’s engineers and transportation experts are well-versed in modern best practices for urban road design, and most would jump at the opportunity to increase safety at a high-crash location.

One relatively inexpensive improvement would be to narrow the lanes and add traffic-calming elements to I-295 to encourage slower and more deliberate travel through the city and over the bridge. It’s been proven that crashes at slower speeds cause fewer deaths for drivers and pedestrians. Although counterintuitive, slower speeds often can move more traffic through the same space because cars can be closer together. A narrower road, along with signage and barriers, would increase safety for drivers and trail users, reduce crashes and move more cars as needed.

While the cost of urban road modifications and highway redesigns can be significant, the benefits of fewer injuries and deaths are immeasurable. Let’s get to work creating a safer highway and trail network for residents and visitors to traverse our beautiful city by the sea.

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