After
several years of planning and public meetings, the reconstruction of 5.9 miles
of River Road from Route 202 to Route 302, which includes the addition of a
roundabout at Windham Center Road, will go to bid by early next year. Ernie
Martin, the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) project manager said,
“We’re finally there. It has been a long process, longer than expected but for
the most part we’re ready to go. I’m excited to get people out there working so
people can see that it is going to happen.”
There
were skeptics early on – people who had seen the rebuilding of River Road
discussed and dismissed in the past. But through a process that began with a project
advisory committee, continued with public hearings, and will soon be advertised
for contractor bids, the end result will be a safer commuter route from the
Portland area to Windham. “It’s always
good to get something done that we promise – I’m looking forward to it because
it has been long process, it has had a few bumps in the road but I think in the
end it will be a good road,” said Martin.
Currently,
the MDOT is finalizing the plans, and is in the middle of the right of way process,
which entails contacting property owners and meeting with them to talk about
the impacts on each property and working out details.
At
least one River Road resident isn’t happy with the effect the road project is
going to have on his property. Bill Doughty’s house is currently shielded from
the traffic on River Road by a nicely landscaped group of trees, which are
projected to be removed to make way for drainage. “It is this place, those
trees. It’s why I bought it. As you can see, it’s my buffer zone to the River
Road,” said Doughty. “[The design] will
dump me right on the street. That’s not why I bought this place,” he added.
The
project will leave Doughty’s house completely exposed to the road, as well as
cutting a corner off edge of his lot, taking down a stone wall. Doughty pointed
to the woods across the road from his lot, “You see what’s across the
street? Nothing!” he said. “They can
keep the center of the road where it was depicted when it was horse and buggy,
or why don’t you just move it over a little bit, put the center on that side. Take
that and leave my trees,” he added.
Doughty
believes in the rebuilding of the road, and said he’s seen many accidents near
his house in the winter. “I agree with what they want to do,” he said. He doesn’t
agree with how they are doing it. When public meetings were being held, he said
he couldn’t attend due to work commitments. He said he tried to call, but his
phone messages were never returned. “Now that it’s beyond the changing point,
then they answer my phone call,” he said.
Doughty,
who has owned the property since 1993, and made many improvements to the house,
including building decks and a garage, as well as additional landscaping, says
he has a feeling of helplessness about the situation. “It just seems like this
is out of my hands, and I’m going to lose a significant part of the worth of
this house,” he said.
When
asked about right of way issues, Martin said “Obviously as we go to do a project
of this magnitude, you’re going to run into things.” Often, trees are a big problem, he said. With
highways that haven’t been rebuilt for decades, if ever, you often have to look
at roadway drainage, he said. And this sometimes means the ditch lines are in
the trees. Sometimes, he added, the trees are in the state right of way, not on
private property. Because of federal and state dollars being spent, and federal
guidelines, they are sometimes limited as to what they can do, he said. “It
does have its difficulties, but the intent of the department is to work with
each individual property owner the best we can and hopefully we can meet their
needs. Sometimes it’s difficult depending on the situation,” he said.
The
project will make the road safer, with better sight lines and a corrected
profile to eliminate the runoff that happens with the current road in winter. The
5-foot shoulder will allow law enforcement a safe place to pull speeding
vehicles over. The addition of the roundabout at Windham Center Road will also
help keep speeds down. “That is going to become a traffic calmer. People have
to slow down to navigate the roundabout. I think that’s one way to slow them
down,” said Martin.
Martin
said the public advisory committee process they went through with the town of
Windham was very beneficial, allowing people who live on the road, and key
community leaders, an opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns. “That
was very key to me because they gave me what we then designed. I can’t speak
more highly of the folks that were on that advisory committee,” he said. “I
couldn’t have asked for a better process or better people on the committee to
help guide us to where we are today.”
Once
the right of way process is complete, the project will be advertised for about
three weeks. Upon submission of required documentation by the contractor, the
project will be awarded, and then construction can begin. This process can take
a few months, Martin said. When the project has been awarded, clearing or
utility work could potentially happen quickly, if the winter is mild. Construction
for the full project will have a two year timetable, and is projected to be
complete in approximately November of 2015. “As we button up our design, we’ll
look at it a little closer and finalize that date before we put the bid package
out,” said Martin.
Martin
is pleased to see the project finally coming to fruition. “We’re getting ready
to finally get this thing to the finish line and get some dirt moving, so
people can see that. I know they’ve been patiently waiting.”
