The Route 196 Committee will host a workshop tonight to get public input on the Route 196 corridor, which is the current focus of a town planning effort.

Created in May, the Route 196 Corridor Committee is charged with completing a corridor study along the state highway that looks at what residents want to see along the corridor in terms of land use, transportation, infrastructure and visual impacts.

The study is to make recommendations for adapting existing rules and regulations to achieve those desired outcomes. Topsham hired consultants

Wright-Pierce and Gorrill-Palmer to facilitate this planning process and provide technical input on land use, infrastructure and traffic.

The town’s comprehensive plan describes Route 196 as an “important transportation corridor, while envisioning opportunities to connect to the Androscoggin River and develop the Pejepscot area as a denser commercial or residential village.”

Residents, landowners, and business owners can help shape the master plan in terms of what infrastructure improvements should be pur- sued, what types of commercial uses are appropriate and what they should look like, how commercial and residential growth along the corridor will impact traffic, and how pedestrian and bicycle needs can be met.

The Route 196 Plan must also take into account existing town plans such as the 2010 Natural Areas Plan.

As the first public outreach effort for the Route 196 plan, tonight’s meeting will be followed by additional community and stakeholder outreach and at least one additional public workshop after the draft plan has been developed.

The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at the municipal building and is open to residents, business owners and others with interest in the Route 196 corridor.

Questions can be directed to Richard Roedner, Topsham’s planning director, at 725-1724; or via email at rroedner@topshammaine.com.