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Click here for more information on the Shore Road Pathway
06/16/10
Town seeks MDOT Quality Community Program grant for Shore Road path construction
The Town Council on June 14, 2010 approved application to the Maine Department of Transportation Quality Community Program for a grant to help fund the Shore Road Pathway. It's the second grant application the Town has made this year for funding of the 2-mile length of the Shore Road Pathway. In January, the Town applied to the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System for the full $980,000 anticipated construction cost of a pathway next to Shore Road.
The Quality Community Program is a separate, statewide bike and pedestrian enhancement grant program, with an estimated funding capacity of $8 million for its upcoming two-year grant cycle.
The town's application asks $669,000 for construction of the path. In addition, the Town will ask for up to $40,000 to fund a walkway from L.P. Murray & Sons, Inc. on Shore Road west to the corner of Shore and Route 77. The walk would connect to the Shore Road path by connecting to an existing walkway in front of the medical office at 1226 Shore Road.
Councilors voted 5-2 June 14 to authorize the grant application with the additional sidewalk funding. Voting against the application were councilors Penny Jordan and Jessica Sullivan, who both also opposed the January application to PACTS.
Sullivan said she has been on public record as "very much against the Shore Road Pathway", and questioned assertions in the application indicating widespread community support. The application refers to support at a public forum held in November, 2008, but Sullivan said she counted 31 comments in favor of the path at the forum and 18 opposed. "Actually I wouldn't consider that widespread, it wasn't even 2-1 by the comments," Sullivan said. She suggested more accuracy in the application, and agreed to a suggestion from Chair Anne Swift-Kayatta that reference also be made to a petition signed by approximately 500 residents opposing the path.
Jordan repeated her concern that the town was applying for grant monies without any matching funds.
Last September, when the majority of councilors approved the Shore Road Pathway concept design, councilors also authorized $110,000 for permitting, surveying and design. The funds came from a 2008 bond issue for town center improvements and infrastructure.
The application for the Transportation Quality Community Grant cites the $110,000 as a sign of local commitment, along with $200,000 pledged by the private Safe Access For Everyone (SAFE) group.
If the extra $40,000 for the sidewalk is awarded, it would require an $8,000 matching commitment from the town, something most councilors said they believed appropriate not only for safety, but because the sidewalk is part of the 1993 Town Center Plan and 2008 bond for Town Center improvements. The sidewalk has already been designed, but was never funded, said Town Manager Michael McGovern.
"I view this as a Town Center sidewalk issue," said Town Council Chair Anne Swift-Kayatta. Whatever money the town has budgeted for sidewalks should go toward the match, she said. McGovern said he recommended the application include money for the sidewalk, but that funding for the sidewalk not depend on the grant.
Councilor David Sherman called the opportunity to fund 80 percent of the extra sidewalk a "no-brainer".
If the town is successful in its application for Shore Road Path funds, and the matching $200,000 has not been raised by October 2011, the Town would have the option of refusing the grant, said Town Planner Maureen O'Meara. So far $25,000 has been raised by the private SAFE group, O'Meara said June 14. The group's website June 15 reported that $50,000 had been raised.
The Quality Community Program is designed to promote the state's Sensible Transportation Policy approved by voters in 1991 and amended by the Legislature in 1993 and 2005, McGovern said. The strongest applications are those that support less road construction and encourage bicycling and walking, he said.
Planning Board hearing on Shore Road path site plan, resource protection permit scheduled for July 20, 2010
The site plan and resource protection permit application for the path was deemed complete by the Planning Board on June 15. The board will hold a public hearing on the plan at their July 20 meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall.
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