A mile stretch of Broadway in South Portland is on a state priority list for repaving in 2010.

But three years is not soon enough for Gary Crosby, who owns a home and businesses off Broadway. The shake, rattle and roll from tanker trucks that rumble over patched and broken pavement have cracked the plaster walls in Crosby’s house, which is 100 feet off Broadway.

“It feels like a mini-earthquake,” said Crosby, who has lived in his Tanner Street house for 24 years. “Glasses shake. The house shakes. It’s like somebody in the house slammed the door really hard. Everything moves.”

Crosby, who owns a dump truck, says he doesn’t blame the large fuel rigs that use the thoroughfare on runs to the oil storage tanks by Portland Harbor. Instead, the road is in dire need of new pavement.

“When an 80,000-pound truck hits a dip in that road, you know it,” Crosby said.

City officials agree with his view. But a repaving plan for this small section of Broadway has hit a roadblock in Augusta – a shortage of funds from rising costs.

From Cash Corner to the city’s public safety building, the state failed to deliver on a a repaving plan in 2006, after the city dug up the road to work on underground drainage pipes, according to Acting City Manager James Gailey.

Broadway is among a handful of so-called “state aid” roads in South Portland that get money for maintenance and repairs. Others include Cottage Road and Ocean Street. Gailey said the state agreed to time a routine repaving of Broadway to follow the city’s plumbing work last summer to separate storm water and sewage flow in the area.

“But we were notified in the fall that the money had been reallocated, because of the budget issues at the DOT,” said Acting City Manager James Gailey. “It’s unlikely now that the money will come until 2010.”

Rising costs for petroleum-based repaving materials have delayed many state road projects, including work on Broadway, Gailey said. The project was pushed back to 2010, Gailey reported at a recent South Porland City Council meeting.

Repavement projects are done on a priority basis, based on the condition of the roads.

Complaints by property owners prompted Gailey to meet with state Department of Transportation engineers two weeks ago to show them first hand the need to grind and resurface the road, from Amato’s to the former Newick’s Restaurant.

///Dean Lessard at the department’s Scarborough office is working with the city, but was unavailable for comment.///

Meanwhile, Crosby is just one of several property owners with concerns.

Harold Trombley, who owns the State Farm office building on Broadway, is irritated by the delay.

“I’m 75 years old. I don’t know if I will be around in 2010. It’s disturbing to have to wait that long for a simple repaving project to get done,” Trombley said.

“This is one of the city’s main thoroughfares,” he added. “Our business is right on the street, and you notice the thudding of tires when trucks hit holes and dips in the road.”

Justin West and his fianca also say they have problems with their house shaking since the city dug up the road last summer.

They claim that cracks in their home’s foundation have gotten worse. West, whose home is on Broadway, says the walls shake when loaded fuel tanker trucks hit manhole covers, which are not level with the pavement since the city tore up the road.

“The road was never great, but it has gotten much worse,” said West. He claims the force of heavy trucks hitting road bumps has caused more cracks in the foundation of his house. Water seeps into the basement. The commotion is worse at night, West said, when many fuel trucks make their runs.

“It’s hard getting back to sleep.”

Although there is no immediate fix, Gailey is counseling patience.

“We are currently working well with the DOT in trying to solve this issue,” Gailey said. “They are listening to us. They seem to have a good understanding now of what we are facing.”

He urges residents and business owners to document problems related to the uneven, patched pavement on Broadway and to contact their city councilors and state representatives.

“We need to know the impact,” he said.

Gary Crosby says the trucks rumbling by on Broadway have cracked the walls in his home, located 100 feet off the road.