Forest Avenue Business Meeting and Survey

April 1, 2026 Update

Thank you to the Forest Avenue businesses that could make it to the stakeholders meeting on March 31st at The Proper Cup.

You can find the presentation from the 31st HERE.

Whether you attended the meeting or not, a survey for businesses is HERE. The survey will be available through Friday, April 10th.

A Project to Make Forest Avenue Safer and More Accessible for All

WHAT'S HAPPENING. The goal of the Forest Avenue Redesign Project is to increase safety and accessibility for all users of the street including pedestrians, motorists, bicyclists and transit users. The project will provide updated analysis and street design recommendations to modernize Forest Avenue from Woodfords Corner to USM/Exit 6. The scope of work for the project includes:

• review of prior studies and analysis of existing conditions
• development and evaluation of street configuration alternatives that address issues that are identified by the analysis
• development of a recommended street configuration to advance to design
• 'pop-up' and more formal public outreach and engagement opportunities.

Data that has been collected as part of the study include new counts at intersections with traffic signals of motor vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists and on-street parking use.

Options that will be considered as part of the various street configuration alternatives include: in-street bike lanes; 'queue jump lanes' that allow buses to get to the front of car queues at traffic signals to reduce transit travel times; additional street trees and other streetscape improvements; new transit stop infrastructure such as bus shelters and benches; changes to traffic signal timing; modifications to on-street parking; new pedestrian crossings of Forest Avenue; and, reductions in the number, configuration and/or width of motor vehicle travel lanes.

The final products will be a concept plan for Forest Avenue with the recommended street configuration cross-sections and a report documenting the analysis and findings of the study. Once completed, funding may be sought for any additional design work that is needed for design and implementation. The recommended design concept will focus on street redesign actions that can be implemented in the short-to-mid term for lower cost but test their level of safety and accessibility benefits. If these measures prove successful, future phases could consider more transformational changes such as converting in-street bike lanes (if implemented as a result of this project) to separated-sidewalk level bike lanes/cycle tracks.

BACKGROUND. The City of Portland began recent master planning for Forest Avenue back in 2010 with the Transforming Forest Avenue Study which was completed in 2012. It looked holistically at the street from Woodfords Corner to Park Avenue and all of its competing functions. These key functions include Forest Avenue's regional traffic role while also serving as a neighborhood commercial district its businesses and for abutting residential neighborhoods. Outcomes from the study principally resulted in the Woodfords Corner construction project - completed in 2018 - that sought to balance traffic needs with pedestrian safety, accessibility and streetscape upgrades.

A subsequent planning study - the Portland-South Portland Smart Corridor Study - enlarged the study area to include the portion of Forest Avenue starting at Morrill's Corner. Completed in 2018, it developed conceptual plans for reconfiguring travel lanes, adding bike lanes, modifying bus stops and their locations, adding queue jump lanes at several intersections, adding pedestrian crossings and rehabilitating sidewalks and the streetscape along Forest Avenue. This Forest Avenue Redesign Project builds on the public outreach and input received during the Smart Corridor Study and focuses on this portion of Forest Avenue from USM-Baxter/Bedford to Woodfords Corner.

Background Resouces

• Transforming Forest Avenue Study Final Report
• Portland-South Portland Smart Corridor Study Final Report
• Portland-South Portland Smart Corridor Study Final Presentation

Existing Conditions Phase Completed

Toole Design Group has prepared Existing Conditions memos that include information updated analyses of vehicular traffic operations and multimodal operations with a strong emphasis on safety for all modes. A key finding is that vehicular traffic levels - counted during October 2023 - are 20% lower than pre-pandemic levels. This reduction in traffic potentially creates opportunities for a more flexible, multi-modal redesign of the street, addressing the street's current safety and operation issues for all modes of transportation. A more flexible design would be in contrast its current 4 lane configuration with no bicycle lanes, lengthy distances between pedestrian crossings and numerous high crash locations which are significant deficiencies with Forest Avenue's existing design. The material also includes a Purpose and Need Statement outlining the formal goals of the project and objectives against which options for addressing Forest Avenue's documented deficiencies will be assessed during the next study phase, the street redesign Alternatitives Analysis.

Existing Conditions memos
*Vehicular Traffic memo
*Multi-modal memo

Alternatives Analysis Phase

Based on the analysis of Forest Avenue's Existing Conditions, a range of potential street design concepts were developed that respond to the Purpose and Need Statement. Five general road reconfiguration alternatives were developed and assessed against evaluation criteria. These alternatives are:

• No Build - the current street configuration of four travel lanes and on-street parking
• Option A - adding a fifth lane, a two-way center turn lane, to the current four travel lanes
• Option B - adding bicycle lanes to to the current four travel lanes
• Option C - a lane reduction to 3 lanes, adding bicycle lanes and retaining one side of on-street parking
• Option D - a lane reduction to 3 lanes and retaining both sides of on-street parking.

The alternatives were assessed against evaluation criteria in the following categories:

• Trafffic safety
• Traffic operations
• On-street parking
• Driving experience
• Pedestrian safety/experience
• Bicycle facility comfort/'stress level'
• Transit efficiency
• Furtherance of city/state goals.

The draft results of the alternatives analysis are provided in the DRAFT Alternatives Analysis memo.
DRAFT Alternatives Analysis memo

A summary of the street configuration alternatives that were evaluated, the evaluation critera and the evaluation ratings are available here: Street Configurations and Ratings.

NOVEMBER 19th PUBLIC MEETING FOLLOW-UP

A hearty THANK YOU! to the 80+ people that attended Tuesday night's Open House and Public Meeting. The project team has compiled the notes from the discussion during the public meeting and the results of the interactive displays during the open house. We very much appreciate the many great conversations that occurred and the live feedback that we received. If you missed the meeting (or even if you didn't!), there is still time to review the materials provided at the meeting and fill out the on-line survey to let us know what you think about the several design options presented and what's most important to you when you think about a future Forest Avenue. The survey will be active through Tuesday, December 3rd.

November 19th meeting materials:
Presentation Slides
Meeting & Open House Summary Notes

Survey Results:
Summary Charts
Detailed Survey Responses.

The survey closed on December 3rd. Thank you to the 288 persons that responded!

FEBRUARY 2025 UPDATE: Forest Avenue Redesign Project Executive Summary Available

The Executive Summary for the Forest Avenue Redesign Project is now available. It includes a summary of the process and findings of the project as well as Recommendations and Next Steps.
Forest Avenue Redesign Project Executive Summary
Forest Avenue Redesign Project - Appendices Compilation

For more information about the project, contact Bruce Hyman, bhyman@portlandmaine.gov.