A $1.3 million long-term plan to redesign the Cape Elizabeth Recycling Center would repurpose the aging trash compactor building where a former public works director died last November.

Residents would no longer be required to drive their vehicles up to the compactor building to drop off their trash. Instead, the new plan – which has an estimated operating cost of $589,000 a year – calls for residents to use stand-alone compactor units for household trash, similar to the existing recycling containers at the center.

Though a handful of residents at the Recycling Center Friday had not seen the proposal, they said that a new traffic pattern was needed in order to improve safety at the site.

“Anything is better than what we’re doing now,” said resident Nancy Rayner, who thinks clearer signage would help improve safety. “I think it would be beneficial.”

Herbert Dennison, 79, was walking his trash to the two-story compactor building in November when an SUV, which was being backed up at a high rate of speed by a 72-year-old resident, pushed him into the compactor.

The accident prompted the town to establish a five-member Solid Waste and Recycling Long Range Planning Committee to redesign the transfer station and recycling center to make it safer for users. The Town Council unanimously approved the committee’s 158-page report – which took about eight months to complete – at its Sept. 14 meeting. That report can be found on the Cape Elizabeth website.

Another resident, Sue Martin, said users of the facility have been driving more cautiously since last November’s fatal accident. She’s happy that the town’s short- and long-term plans for the site no longer include drivers backing up.

“The only way to do it is to go in one direction,” Martin said. “I always thought, in the very beginning, before this tragedy happened, that people should never back into that place.”

Councilors are scheduled to review and discuss the report at a workshop on Monday, Oct. 19. At that meeting, committee members, public works director Bob Malley and engineers from Portland-based Woodard & Curran will be on hand to answer questions by the council about the proposal.

Prior to the accident councilors set a goal as part of the 2015-2024 Capital Improvement Plan, to complete a comprehensive review of the 37-year-old facility, which has drastically changed through the years, including the addition of the Swap Shop and Bottle Shed in the 1990s. The town then added single-sort containers to the property in 2008.

Dennison’s unusual death, however, accelerated the review process. Last January the town implemented a short-term traffic pattern at the Recycling Center that prohibits users from backing their vehicles into the compactor building. Under the temporary pattern, users drive forward into a four diagonal parking spaces in front of the building and walk their solid waste materials to the compactor.

In addition, several containers designated for recycling are also available for residents to use before they reach the compactor building. Those who want to visit the Swap Shop and Bottle Shed, and other services, can access a bypass lane that is located to the left of the existing recycling containers.

The committee determined that the aging compactor, and the building that surrounds it, is in need of repair or replacement. According to the report, to continue using the compactor, without making repairs, would cost the town about $417,000. Though the stand-alone compactors are expected to cost $13,800 more than to repair the existing compactor, the town would save $50,000 or more in hauling fees annually, said Jessica Sullivan, town councilor and chair of the solid waste committee.

According to Sullivan, the committee recommends reusing the building as an office and include space for managing electronic waste. Cape Elizabeth’s radio communication system would also continue to be located on the building, she said.

Sullivan said the plan is to incorporate multiple drive-forward-only lanes alongside the standalone compactors for recycling and solid waste disposal, which would greatly improve the traffic flow. Residents would also be able to throw their corrugated cardboard in with their other recyclables, which is “a big change,” Sullivan said.

Traffic islands would be built to separate patrons of the Swap Shop and Bottle Shed from other users exiting the site, in order to reduce traffic congestion and improve safety, said Sullivan. Swap Shop parking would also be adjusted, and include handicapped parking, and clearer signage will be posted throughout the site.

According to Sullivan, the Recycling Center, which is located on Dennison Drive, is “probably the most heavily used facility in town.”

“There will be a dramatic change in the traffic pattern,” said Sullivan. “The entire transfer station driving pattern will be changed if this is approved. People will be able to leave the station without worrying about Swap Shop patrons backing (into them).”

Sullivan said overall the facility would be “a lot more efficient” since more compactors and driving lanes would be available. The compactors, which would have larger openings and be located closer to the ground, would be easier for residents to use.

The new design, which would be in place for at least the next 30 years, said Sullivan, is not only “forward-thinking,” but it’s also practical and economical.

Nearly 800 residents responded to a town-wide survey distributed by the committee in April about the center’s operations. Seventy-five percent of respondents said they did not support curbside trash collection, which is an alternative to the current trash disposal system at the transfer station. Sixty-one percent said they preferred to stay with the current system even if it means higher fees and taxes, according to the committee’s report.

Sullivan commended the committee for its efforts, which included a lot of “creative thinking” and a “concerted effort to minimize costs.”

“The committee was really outstanding, very dedicated and hardworking,” Sullivan said. “Everybody did a lot of research and the engineers were incredibly helpful.”

A resident walks back to her car at the Cape Elizabeth Recycling Center last week after she throws her recyclable items into one of the containers. A planned overhaul of the traffic flow of the center has recently been released.