TOPSHAM

Topsham planners want public input about a master plan for the Topsham Fair Mall Road.

A public meeting starts at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the municipal building at 100 Main St.

Town Planner Rod Melanson said the meeting will review feedback the town received in June.

The purposes and goals of the master plan are also on the agenda, and an overview of “why we’re doing this in the first place,” Melanson said.

Those attending will see the analysis completed by consultants on future traffic volume projections, as well renderings of preliminary engineering.

“It shows how things would actually fit on the face of the earth and what we’d need to do to implement some of these measures,” Melanson said.

The hope is that the level of detail will prompt good feedback and ideas from the public.

The plan includes measures like proposed secondary streets, sidewalks and also a roundabout at the intersection of Topsham Fair Mall Road and Park Drive.

There is a much higher traffic volume on the section of Topsham Fair Mall Road between Route 196 and Park Drive, after which traffic drops dramatically. That dynamic continues in the future according to traffic projections.

Melanson said a roundabout would serve as a traffic calming measure that allows traffic flow at peak hours better than a traffic light, while offering safer pedestrian movement. A roundabout would function as a gateway intersection leading to the center of the mall. It would serve as a transition between the higher and lower volume segments of Topsham Fair Mall Road.

The preliminary report contains both short- and long-term measures.

“This is a 20-year analysis we’ve done: What is the growth going to be over 20 years? How do we accommodate this and make it a nice place?” Melanson said.

The next steps are to flush out the public meeting Wednesday and finish the Topsham Fair Mall Road master plan report so it is ready to present to selectmen.