In August 2014, Seacoast Online covered a South Berwick Town Council discussion where a resident pushed for traffic signals at Main and Portland and at Main and Dow Highway. Councilors replied that the turn lanes signals would need could wipe out downtown parking and hurt the businesses that rely on it. The 2014 story also quotes another councilor recalling that people had earlier put pedestrian safety ahead of signals.
Twelve years later, MaineDOT has put a plan in front of the town with new signals at those same two intersections. The 2014 parking worry still drives the design. Most of the choices in the South Berwick Village Transportation Improvement Project come down to one question: how do you move more cars through a narrow village without taking curb space or private land? The project also has a funding gap that sets its timeline, and anyone who uses Route 4/236 should know about it before the comment period closes on October 21, 2026.
The traffic that got us here
MaineDOT's summer counts on the corridor came to 17,095 vehicles over a 12-hour peak day in 2022, up from 14,680 in 2006. The busiest count location in the 2023 Route 236 Planning Study was Main Street south of Paul Street, with an average of 19,040 vehicles a day in 2022. Main Street north of Portland Street averaged 9,260. Most of the corridor's traffic squeezes through the few blocks between Dow Highway and Portland Street, which is the stretch with the businesses, the parked cars, and the crosswalks.
MaineDOT labels an intersection a High Crash Location when it has at least eight crashes in three years and a Critical Rate Factor above 1.0. The Critical Rate Factor compares a location's crash rate with what you'd expect at similar locations. From 2019 to 2021, three village intersections met both tests:
| Intersection with Main Street | Crashes, 2019–2021 | Critical Rate Factor | Meets the High Crash test? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portland Street | 13 | 2.08 | Yes |
| Academy Street | 10 | 1.63 | Yes |
| Dow Highway | 10 | 1.52 | Yes |
| Norton Street | 4 | 1.11 | No, too few crashes |
The type of crash matters as much as the count. At Portland Street, seven of the 13 were rear-ends, and one was a sideswipe involving a tractor-trailer going around a parked vehicle. Two of the Academy Street crashes happened while a pedestrian was in the Main Street crosswalk. On the short block from Portland to Young Street, seven of eight crashes reviewed for 2017 to 2019 involved parked vehicles. The curb-side parking that people wanted to protect in 2014 is part of the crash picture.
Why roundabouts lost
Roundabouts drew more questions than anything else in the virtual public meeting MaineDOT held in February and March 2026. The department gave its answer in the October presentation:
"Traffic signals were selected based on the ability to handle traffic now and the future without added property impacts that could be necessary with roundabouts."
The 2023 study gives more detail. A single-lane roundabout at Portland Street worked under 2022 traffic, but it had no reserve capacity for future growth. A two-lane roundabout at either Portland or Dow didn't fit the available space. The study also found that signals at Portland would keep more southbound Main Street parking near businesses than the roundabout option.
The study modeled a cheaper idea too: add signals and leave the lanes as they are. At Portland Street that still failed in the evening peak, because cars waiting to turn left blocked the through traffic behind them. That's why the plan includes new turn lanes, the same ones councilors were worried about in 2014.
Academy Street gets no signal. Slowing Main Street there would back traffic up to Dow Highway. The study also rejected a raised median between Academy and Portland. That median would have limited driveways to right turns in and out, and it would have affected access to Central Elementary School.
Where the space comes from, block by block
Once you know the curb and the property lines can't move, the preliminary design is easier to follow. It gets its room by removing traffic islands, consolidating driveways, and moving crossings:
- Main Street at Dow Highway. A new signal with two lanes of left turns between Main Street and Dow Highway, and two receiving lanes on Dow Highway that come together in an alternating merge. The existing median island goes away so the intersection lines up better. The 2023 study recommended keeping the crosswalk just south of Dow and putting it on the signal.
- Academy Street to Paul Street. Rebuilt sidewalks with ADA upgrades, bump-outs at crossings, and a reconfigured Academy Street intersection without its island. Paul Street becomes one-way in, with added on-street parking. The study pointed to the extra parking as a main reason to make the change.
- Main Street at Portland Street. A new signal, a new left-turn lane from Main onto Portland, the median island removed, and some added green space. The study sized that turn lane to hold about 150 feet of waiting cars.
- Portland Street to Norton Street. Rebuilt sidewalks, bump-outs at crossings, and a retaining wall that MaineDOT expects to replace.
Driveways are the other source of space. The presentation's access-management slide shows the two entrances at Aroma Joe's combined into one. The study's guidance for the whole corridor goes further. It calls for fewer and narrower driveways, shared access where practical, and closing the Main Street entrance on corner lots that can also be reached from a side street. The current materials name only the Aroma Joe's driveway. If you own a corner lot on Main Street, this guidance is the part to read closely.
Some crossings would change too. The study suggested removing the crosswalk south of Academy Street once Dow has a signal, and sending people walking to the signalized crossing or to the mid-block crossing at Central Elementary School. That crossing would get upgraded flashing beacons. The crossing by the post office could also go if access there is consolidated, which would free up room for more on-street parking. Each crossing removed is a little more curb for parking.
The presentation has a slide comparing proposed and existing parking, but the published text doesn't include space counts. If the number of spaces in front of a particular storefront matters to you, ask about it in your comment.
Designed, not yet paid for
The current estimate for the whole project is about $7.6 million. That includes design, right-of-way, construction, and construction engineering. MaineDOT says the money in hand covers design only, and construction funding has to be found before the project can go out to bid. The town would pay a 10% municipal match.
The 2023 study had a much lower number. It put construction alone at $3.125 million to $3.25 million in 2023 dollars, without engineering or right-of-way. The two estimates cover different things, so you can't compare them directly. Even so, the full price is now more than double the 2023 construction-only figure.
The schedule depends on that funding. The earliest the project could go to bid is 2028, and the earliest construction window is 2028 to 2030. The materials don't give a completion date or a detour plan yet.
Some people asked MaineDOT to build a bypass instead. The department said a bypass was outside the project's scope and budget, and that it has no plans to study a new highway around South Berwick. Others asked about connections to the Eastern Trail. MaineDOT said it would consider "share the road" signs where they fit, and that it's trying to use the existing space without cutting into parking or private property. The answer comes back to the same constraint as everything else. The town's broader sidewalk, trail, and bike ideas are in the Active Transportation Plan, which the Town Council adopted 5–0 on August 11, 2026. Those recommendations depend on future funding.
Getting a comment in before October 21
The town and MaineDOT held the in-person open house at the Community Center on Norton Street on October 6. The formal comment period runs through October 21, 2026, and the design is still being refined. Your options:
- Online. The MaineDOT StoryMap walks through the plans. Its "Leave A Comment" form asks you to pick a topic and lets you drop a pin on the spot you're commenting about.
- Directly to the project manager. MaineDOT's meeting notice lists Martin Rooney's email, phone, and mailing address.
- Background reading. The town's project page links to the full presentation and the 2023 study.
Specific comments are the most useful kind. "The Paul Street one-way works or doesn't for my driveway" gives the design team more to work with than a general opinion about signals. You can also see Paul Street before anything changes. The town's Block Party is on Paul Street on Saturday, October 24, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
If you own on or near Main Street and want to talk through how a project like this could come up down the road, from a combined driveway to a construction window that overlaps with a sale, I'm happy to go over what the plans say about your parcel. Reach out to Heather Crosby and let's connect.
