Traffic relief for downtown Gorham is rolling forward, as the state gears up for construction of the long-hoped-for Gorham bypass.
The state will seek construction bids this month, and on Tuesday, the Gorham’s Town Council approved a construction permit for the Department of Transportation, paving the way for the start of the project.
“We’re getting closer,” said Norm Justice, chairman of the town council.
Work could start in late summer, according to Herb Thomson, a spokesman for the Maine Department of Transportation.
It’s good news for Gorham Village residents like Burt and Nancy Kenty, who live on South Street, where traffic backs up in front of their home. “It would be wonderful,” said Nancy Kenty Wednesday.
The bypass is aimed at diverting traffic around Gorham Village. A 3.4-mile highway, it would link South Street (Route 114) to Route 25 west of Gorham Village. The limited-access bypass would only intersect with the existing numbered highways, including Route 202 (Narragansett Street). A bridge would carry Flaggy Meadow Road traffic over the bypass.
Town Manager David Cole said Tuesday the Department of Transportation bid process would begin on June 21. Thomson said bids would be opened on July 3.
Gorham’s bypass would be paid for with federal and state money. Congress earmarked more than $15 million for the project two years ago. But Burleigh Loveitt, vice chairman of Gorham’s council, said Tuesday the project is estimated to now cost $26 million.
With an eye on finances, Loveitt said, it’s essential to start the bidding process directly. “Time is of the essence because of the inflation factor,” Loveitt said.
Costs of construction materials have skyrocketed in recent years. “They’re squirming about the price of the bridge,” Loveitt said about state planners.
Thomson said Gorham and neighboring communities would benefit from the bypass. Thomson said it’s one of the biggest projects in the department’s plans. “This is a very important priority for MDOT,” Thomson said.
Richard Boyman, a lifelong Gorham resident, lives on State Street in the heart of rush-hour congestion. As many as 40,000 cars and trucks a day cut through Gorham Village where routes 25, 114 and 202 converge. Boyman said the bypass would route oil and gasoline tanker trucks out of Gorham Village, which would improve downtown safety.
An additional northerly bypass of Gorham Village hasn’t been funded. Boyman said the southerly bypass would be helpful but wouldn’t solve all Gorham’s traffic woes. “There has to be more done,” Boyman said.
Nancy Kenty said she has seen a huge increase in traffic in the nine years she and her husband Burt have lived in Gorham. She said they can’t turn left from their driveway onto South Street during either the morning or evening rush hours. She said traffic congestion is bumper to bumper from 3:30 to 6 p.m., and the jam has been starting progressively earlier in afternoons.
Boyman faces similar problems. If he wants to travel west when leaving his yard, Boyman has to drive into the village and then reverse his direction. “There’s a pretty hefty stream of traffic,” Boyman said.
Residents and frustrated commuters alike have waited a long time for congestion relief in Gorham. Boyman said he heard talk of it when he was first a town councilor in 1968.
And Town Councilor Brenda Caldwell, a retired town clerk, said a bypass plan was on the council agenda when she began clerk duties 31 years ago. She said it was also on the agenda for her final meeting as clerk. “Maps were all over the walls,” Caldwell recalled this week about both occasions.
If construction begins this year, Loveitt said the bypass could be completed in 2009. “We’re banking on two construction seasons,” Loveitt said.
Hearing about the state’s plan for accepting construction bids, Nancy Kenty was encouraged.
“I’m hoping,” Kenty said, “they keep saying it’s going to happen. But it’s definitely not going to happen tomorrow.”
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