In the next few months, transportation officials could determine the fate of two transportation projects in Gorham that are seen as essential to improving the flow of traffic commuting through the town.

With the southern bypass through Gorham now under construction, the northern bypass is waiting on a list of 10 transportation projects in the region. In the next few months, a policy committee for the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation Committee will narrow the list to two or three projects that will compete for between $30 million and $50 million in federal transportation funding.

This week Gorham was waiting on a agreement from the Maine Turnpike Authority to sign off on a feasibility study for a turnpike spur that would connect to the southern bypass.

If the proposed 18-month study determined a spur feasible, Dan Paradee, spokesman for the Maine Turnpike Authority, said it could still be up to eight years before construction would begin on the spur. “It’s the first step to any major project,” Paradee said.

John Duncan, director of PACTS, said he expected a forum to hear public comment on the 10 projects on the list would be held sometime later this month or early next month. But, as of this week, a date for the hearing had not been set.

Duncan said the committee that will decide which projects are the top priority for the region includes representatives from the 15 member communities, the Maine Turnpike Authority and the Department of Transportation.

He said he believes southern Maine will receive only between $30 million and $50 million in the next congressional multi-year budget. PACTS estimates a northern Gortham bypass would cost $35 million.

“It’s all about getting federal money,” Duncan said.

Now under construction, the southern bypass of Gorham Village connects South Street (Route 114) with Route 25 west of downtown Gorham with an intersection at Narragansett Street (Route 202).

The Gorham bypass is being funded with federal and state money.

Ray Faucher, a project planner with Department of Transportation, said the northern bypass would be evaluated along with other projects on the PACTS list. Faucher said cost is a “moving target” because of spiraling prices. He said a final design hasn’t been developed because money hasn’t been earmarked for the project.

The transportation department’s focus now is to complete the southerly bypass. Herb Thomson, department communications director, last week described traffic problems as a regional issue. “We’ll look to see how benefits of (the southern bypass) shape up,” Thomson said.

Gorham Town Councilor Burleigh Loveitt said the bypass was never expected to be a cure-all. While the southern bypass is expected to remove traffic from Gorham Village that would be traveling on Route 114 and 25, the northern bypass would remove traffic from the Gorham Village traveling on Route 25 (Main Street). The northern bypass would connect Route 237 with Route 25 in West Gorham, crossing Gray and Fort Hill roads.

A turnpike spur would connect Gorham with the turnpike in South Portland near the Maine Mall. The road would slice through part of Westbrook and Scarborough, connecting to the Gorham bypass at its intersection with South Street.

Burleigh Loveitt, chairman of the Gorham Town Council, said this week the town is aggressively seeking the spur. “We’re after it hammer and tongs,” Loveitt said.

Scarborough, South Portland, Westbrook and Gorham have all passed resolutions supporting a spur. The agreement with the Turnpike Authority was on the Gorham Town Council agenda Tuesday, but action was postponed because Gorham hadn’t received the document. The council will call a special meeting when the agreement arrives.

Loveitt described the agreement as the first “tangible step” in bringing a spur to Gorham. “It launches a study. We are delighted and very supportive,” Loveitt said.

Rep. Chris Barstow, D-Gorham, said Department of Transportation and the Maine Turnpike Authority have both spoken in favor of a spur. “Absolutely, I think it’s feasible,” Barstow said.

Loveitt said a spur would alleviate remaining traffic trouble in Gorham that can’t be addressed any other way. “It’s not an adventure out into the wilderness,” Loveitt said.

He envisioned a Y-shaped spur with a leg to the bypass and another to Mosher’s Corner, the intersection of routes 25 and 237. Besides solving traffic trouble, Loveitt said that connector would enhance economic development in Gorham, Windham and Westbrook.

Pinning his hopes on a turnpike spur, Loveitt, as just one of Gorham’s seven town councilors, doesn’t favor the northern bypass because it would go through neighborhoods and woodland. He said the northern bypass wasn’t a product of a local initiative, but developed by federal and state planners.