Changes in the works for troublesome Outer Congress Street

City and state officials will hold a public discussion next Tuesday, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Italian Heritage Center, about proposed changes to Outer Congress Street intended to make the area easier to navigate.

Here’s the City Hall announcement on the topic:

Next week, officials and staff with the City of Portland including District 3 City Councilor Ed Suslovic along with representatives from the Maine Department of Transportation (Maine DOT) will host a meeting to discuss proposed traffic changes to Outer Congress Street and get feedback from the public. This summer, Maine DOT plans to resurface Outer Congress Street from Stevens Avenue to Johnson Road. At the same time, the city intends to meet many of the objectives identified in the 2007 Outer Congress Street Corridor Study to better balance the safety and travel needs of all users of the roadway, including motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users. To achieve these goals, the city is developing a new striping plan modify traffic lanes, including create dedicated left turning lanes for entry to Waldo Street and for eastbound traffic on Congress Street at Westbrook Street as well as add a center two-way turning lane near Hobart Street.

Seth Koenig

About Seth Koenig

Seth has nearly a decade of professional journalism experience and writes about the greater Portland region.