GORHAM – Despite gas prices riding upward at the pumps, commuters apparently have not yet caught on to a new carpooling opportunity in Gorham.

The newly opened Maine Department of Transportation Park & Ride lot had just one car parked late Monday afternoon. The lot is just off the roundabout where the Bernard P. Rines Highway links with South Street (Route 114) in Gorham.

The lot is a short distance from the heavily congested overlap of routes 22 and 114, state routes leading to Scarborough, South Portland and Westbrook for commuters from Gorham, Buxton, Standish and beyond.

Carpooling from the lot is an opportunity for commuters to save cash in a struggling economy while prices of gasoline are burning holes in household budgets. The average cost of gasoline in New England on Dec. 13 had risen to $3.32 for a gallon of premium and regular gasoline was up to $3.09, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration figures.

“How about a headline, ‘Park & Ride is a good alternative to $3 a gallon gas,’” Gorham Town Manager David Cole suggested this week.

But whether commuters were unaware of the lot opening or opting not to carpool, they weren’t driving in this week. The Gorham Park & Ride lot affords plenty of room, with 70 parking spaces, including three handicapped spots and five bicycle racks. It is one of 53 state Park & Ride lots.

The lot is also designed to accommodate bus turnarounds. Extension of public bus service to Gorham could be one of the recommendations of the Gorham East-West Corridor Study, whose findings are expected to be issued in a written report next month. The study is examining alternatives to reduce traffic and ease snarls in the area.

Rep. Jane Knapp, R-Gorham, announced at last week’s Town Council meeting in Gorham that the Park & Ride had opened.

The Park & Ride program is administered by the Maine Department of Transportation in conjunction with the Maine Turnpike Authority, which is heading up the corridor study.

“The Park & Ride Lot Program is a statewide program that originated from a 1986 Transportation Needs Study to reduce congestion and air pollution, improve air quality, and reduce dependence on foreign oil,” the Maine Department of Transportation reported recently.

Mark Latti, a spokesman for the department, said this week that construction of the Park & Ride lot in Gorham cost $200,000. Gorham Sand & Gravel, a Buxton company, built the lot.

The state had previously acquired land for the Park & Ride lot as part of the $28 million Bernard P. Rines Highway that opened in December two years ago.

The Park & Ride lot should prove attractive to commuters. The Rines Highway, a 3.4-mile southerly bypass of Gorham Village, is utilized by 6,100 vehicles per day, according to the latest state transportation figures.

The town of Gorham will share maintenance of the lot with the state. Cole said the town would plow and pay for electricity for the lights.

The Federal Highway Administration provided money for Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting, which is more energy efficient than traditional lighting. And so far, the town doesn’t have any actual winter storms to indicate annual snow plowing costs of the lot.

“It is more of an issue about efficiently plowing it without using up too much time from all of the other facilities that will have to be plowed,” Cole said.

Latti said vehicles greater than 24 feet in length are not permitted in the Gorham lot. Overnight parking is allowed but parking in excess of 24 hours requires special permission from the Department of Transportation. A sign at the lot warns that violators will be towed.

While utilization of the Park & Ride in Gorham is off to a slow start, Latti said similar lots near the interstate system are well utilized and some have even had to be expanded in recent years.

For more information, call 624-3300 or visit the website www.exploremaine.org/parkandride/index.htm.

One lone car Monday is in the state’s newly opened Park & Ride at the roundabout where South Street intersects with the Bernard P. Rines Highway in Gorham. Staff photo by Robert Lowell