WINDHAM – At the urging of a dozen residents as well as four former councilors, the Windham Town Council Tuesday night said it would support the proposed River Road reconstruction as the town’s top priority for state funding.

The statement of support for the project comes after the Maine Department of Transportation suggested the town pick between two projects – the River Road reconstruction and an intersection realignment at Route 302 and Anglers Road – to better the chance that one would receive funding. The council plans to hold a workshop soon to discuss how to best lobby the state for funding for the River Road project.

“It’s pretty apparent River Road is a priority,” said council Chairman Scott Hayman, who lives on the roadway but said he tries to avoid driving on it if possible. “We’d all be nai?ve to think River Road wasn’t a priority over Anglers Road … I think everyone who sits at this table understands that we need to prioritize River Road, and let the state know that River Road is our priority, speak as a unified body…we get your folks’ point… I agree, it needs to be done.”

Hayman’s comments, seconded by others on the council, were applauded by those residents in attendance.

The Maine Department of Transportation has the ultimate say in which road projects get priority. And that decision is dependent on the money the Maine Legislature allocates to the department as it struggles with lower tax revenue and more requests for road improvement projects throughout Maine. The Legislature is expected to make its decision on how much MDOT receives in early 2011 as it develops its next two-year budget.

The issue of River Road vs. Anglers Road arose as a result of a July 15 letter sent to the state by town officials. In it, Windham indicated that both projects – River Road and Anglers Road – should be viewed by the state as having equal importance in hopes that the state would fund reconstruction of both in the next biennial budget cycle. Then, at a council meeting Nov. 23, Town Manager Tony Plante said both projects have been in the pipeline for years and both deserve funding.

That comment set off people in town who view River Road as a more pressing need compared with the Anglers Road project. And with limited state and federal highway funding due to the recession, those concerned with River Road’s reconstruction didn’t want the Anglers Road project competing for dollars they thought should be spent on River Road.

After the meeting, former Councilor Donna Chapman, who has been adamant that the River Road project get priority, was satisfied by the council’s actions.

“I’m glad they finally saw the light,” she said. “I was glad to see Scott (Hayman) finally, finally step up and lead the charge for River Road. It’s not what Tony wants for the town, it’s what the Town Council wants for the town.”

Plante, in the past and at Tuesday’s meeting, said he believes River Road to be a priority, but that he was also trying to get both projects on the state’s radar in hopes both could be funded. Plante said the state’s letter suggesting the town pick one project created a “false equivalency” between the two proposals.

“What the goal was with MDOT was to resurrect the Anglers Road project,” Plante said. “Our goal was to get the project reinstated. In my comments on Nov. 23, I think I made it pretty clear that River Road had momentum behind it with the public advisory process. Many of these people are in the room tonight. And I don’t see any way that MDOT could look at the two projects and see them in any way equivalent. River Road has momentum. River Road should be the priority.

“What we were aiming to do by sending them the letter earlier this year was simply to get them to reinstate the Anglers Road project because it, too, at one time, had been identified as a safety priority.”

Tuesday’s meeting and the town’s internal discussion regarding project priorities help to further prove to MDOT that Windham needs River Road fixed, Plante said.

“I think having the public here tonight lends further weight to it,” he said. “I think having the council hear from the public. It’s not me talking, it’s not just you talking, it’s members of the public. (It gives us the ability) to turn around and say, we’ve been hearing from our constituents and we need to make River Road a priority. I think that does nothing but add weight to the argument.”