By Nate Jones

Staff Writer 

For five years, nearly $440,000 has sat, untouched, in the office of the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation Committee System, or PACTS. On Monday, the Cape Elizabeth Town Council will discuss the possibility of using the funds to construct a stoplight at the intersection of Route 77, Scott Dyer Road and Shore Road, or forfeiting the money altogether. 

“Right now we’re waiting for a green light,” Maine Department of Transportation Project Manager Shawn Smith said of the stoplight project. “Our overall concern is that there’s active money doing nothing.”

PACTS isn’t the only organization that has put money on the line for the stoplight; Smith said the Maine Department of Transportation, or MDOT, has already spent approximately $120,000 engineering and designing improvements to the intersection after it was identified as an important part of improving Cape Elizabeth’s Town Center in an MDOT 1993 traffic study. Smith said it was unclear whether or not the town would be asked to reimburse MDOT the $120,000 spent during the planning phase, should the council decide not to move forward with the project.

“That’s something we’ll have to work out,” he said. “We’ve obviously spend some money on this but I’m really unclear how a reimbursement would work. There might be some cost-sharing involved with that.”

In addition to the new stoplight, the project proposes to purchase several small portions of land around the intersection to improve the alignment of Scott Dyer and Shore roads, Smith said. In October, MDOT right-of-way team member Michael Danforth said the parcels could also be seized for the project in the interest of a “significant public need.” The seizure would involve a repayment option for landowners who lose portions of their property, and court proceedings for those who refuse, Danforth said.

All of the proposed improvements could cost more than $1 million, Smith said. 

“That includes everything,” he said. “The small pieces of land to be purchased, the construction and an [MDOT] supervisor during construction.”

Smith said the overall project cost is still a “moving target,” as construction materials prices fluctuate and construction companies are more actively pursuing municipal contracts due to the lull in commercial construction projects.

“The real time when we’ll know the cost is when we open the bids,” Smith said.

Cape Elizabeth Town Manager Michael McGovern said he was also skeptical of how accurate the $1.1 million estimate was. 

“We’ve had three different answers [from MDOT] at three different times,” he said. “And the estimate was done at the peak of the recession, or just before we knew we were in one.”

McGovern has estimated the project could cost the town up to $750,000 between its 15 percent match for the PACTS funding and 100 percent of the remaining cost. Since then, $900,000 previously available through a voter-approved bond for drainage and road improvements for the town center has been used for new crosswalks at the intersection and pedestrian signs, McGovern said. The account now has approximately $300,000 remaining – funding McGovern said remains “frozen and awaiting decisions,” and could be used for the stoplight project. 

For now, PACTS Senior Transportation Planner Paul Niehoff said the organization is still poised to provide funding for the stoplight. 

“The project remains viable and on the books and the funding has not changed,” Niehoff wrote in an email. “We are working with the town to either move the project forward or to look at other options for the intersection. At this time it’s pretty much on hold.”

The town council meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 13, at 7:30 p.m. McGovern said the council could delay making a final decision on the project – first tabled in October last year – until next month.

“I think it’s safe to say [MDOT] is losing a little patience with the town of Cape Elizabeth,” McGovern said. 

   Staff Writer Nate Jones may be reached at 282-4337 ext. 233.