By Nate Jones

Staff Writer 

Weather permitting, members of Cape Elizabeth’s Shore Road Pathway Study Committee will walk the three-mile stretch of pavement from Fort Williams to Pearl Street in Cape Elizabeth April 9. The purpose of the site walk is to help the committee visualize construction of an 11,000-foot-long pathway – a proposal they plan to present to the town council in upcoming months.

The committee approved the final drafting of a letter to be mailed to Shore Road residents whose property could be affected by the project. The mailing is based on a 1960 road survey and photographs taken by committee member Howard Littlefieldon identifying the locations of numerous trees, fences, stone walls and houses which could fall within Shore Road’s right-of-way .

“We’re going to find fences in the right-of-way,” committee member Joesef Chalet said. “We know that the road isn’t centered.”

Town Planner Maureen O’Meara said the width of the right-of-way for Shore Road varies since the road is very old and has been repaved several times. 

“It is not unusual for homeowners to put things in the right-of-way,” she said. “But as long as [the committee is] proposing [the pathway be constructed] in the existing right-of-way, [they] do not need permission of abutting property owners.”

According to an informal comparison presented by O’Meara, the western side of Shore Road has 37 abutting properties that could be affected by the construction of the pathway. The eastern, or ocean side, has 54 abutters. O’Meara said each side of Shore Road has seven buildings that could possibly fall within 35 feet of the road’s centerline. She said the centerline should not be considered the center of the right-of-way as the location of the road may have shifted over time.

Committee member George Morse said he measured a total of nearly 1,105 feet of stone wall along the western bank of the road, and approximately 1,925 feet on the eastern bank.

O’Meara said the section of Shore Road near Pond Cove “had its own issues” due to the close proximity to the ocean.

“Roads close to the ocean in Cape Elizabeth tend to slide out of their right-of-way,” she said. 

O’Meara said the western side of Shore Road was also less heavily developed than the eastern side.

“You can get a long way dealing with just two or three landowners. We have a lot less flexibility on the water side,” she said.

Various portions of land managed by the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust (CELT) on the western portion of Shore Road, including Robinson Woods would also simplify path construction, O’Meara said. CELT Executive Director Chris Franklin said it would be “relatively easy” to build the path on the Robinson Woods property once they received a formal proposal from the committee.

Committee member Andie Mahoney said the committee should decide which side of Shore Road was best suited for the pathway rather than where it would be easier to construct.

“I’d be willing to do battle with the water people if we thought it was best,” she said.

Chalet said he was skeptical of the accuracy of the 40-year-old plans and suggested the committee conduct a formal survey of the corridor.

“Can we even set foot on this land until we know exactly where the right-of-ways are?” he asked.

The committee moved the completion of a professional survey to the top of their priority list, and agreed to notify Shore Road residents of their intent. 

“Otherwise as soon as flags go up, people are going to pull them down,” committee chairman Paul Thelin said.

The idea for a pedestrian walkway along Shore road is not a new concept. Town manager Michael McGovern said the town council approved a similar project in the 1990s. 

“It was a two to four-foot-wide paved shoulder,” O’Meara said. “There’s a distinct difference between now and then.”

The town went as far to apply for federal funding from the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation Committee (PACTS) for the 1990 project, McGovern said. 

McGovern said by the time PACTS had approved finances, several town council members had been replaced in an election, and the project was ultimately voted down.

“Most everyone on Shore Road was aligned against the project anyway,” he said. 

Interest in the Shore Road pathway project was sparked again in November, 2006 by a report from the Road Safety Working Group, chaired by Shore Road resident, town councilor and state representative Cynthia Dill (D-Maine).

 The group prioritized three projects to “standardize the town’s response to request for traffic calming from town residents” according to a 2007 memorandum to the town council. O’Meara said the possibility of a pathway along Shore Road was “at the top of their list” of recommendations to the council. 

The Shore Road Pathway project was also included in the comprehensive plan adopted by the town council last year.

McGovern said the Road Safety Working Group initially estimated construction of the pathway to cost nearly $2 million.