WESTBROOK – A Westbrook developer is proposing the state build a road through his land as one way to help resolve area traffic problems

Jason Snyder, a large landowner on Stroudwater Street, is proposing a 5,500-foot road be built through Snyder property that would connect routes 25 and 22 (Congress Street). Snyder has had previous proposals for a huge development on the site.

Snyder’s idea was presented in his letter that was read Tuesday by Westbrook City Councilor Paul Emery during the final public meeting for the first phase of the Gorham East-West Corridor Study, headed by the Maine Turnpike Authority and Maine Department of Transportation. The study is aimed solving traffic congestion.

The Snyder proposal appeared to come unexpectedly. The letter was read during the public comment period and did not come under discussion at the meeting.

The road he’s proposing would run through land Snyder owns in Westbrook and another family-owned parcel located in Portland.

Snyder said the road would provide the most efficient connection between South Portland and Westbrook, besides enabling what he called a smart growth solution for the corridor.

“It’s a great solution for the corridor,” Snyder said Wednesday.

Three years ago, Snyder unveiled plans for the property called Stroudwater Place, a $300-million, 1.65-million-square-foot, upscale retail and recreational development. But the project has not moved forward. Late last year, he proposed a multi-million dollar county arena on the land, but Cumberland County commissioners rejected the idea.

Four municipalities – Gorham, South Portland, Scarborough and Westbrook – initiated the transportation study, which got under way two years ago. The area has been identified as the fastest-growing residential area in Maine and one of the worst for traffic congestion.

The results of the comprehensive study recommend a “three-legged stool” approach as a solution, with land use changes in municipalities, increased public transit and road improvements. A highway linking Gorham to the Maine Turnpike would be included in one package of two road scenarios looked at in the next phase.

To ease congestion in Gorham, a bypass of its village opened in 2008.

“We do need a connector from the bypass to the Maine Turnpike,” said Hans Hansen of South Gorham. “Put that highway in.”

Land use changes would feature zoning to allow high-density growth areas in the communities. Transit recommendations included expanding bus service and re-activating rail service on the former Mountain Division Railroad. Its idle tracks run through Westbrook, Gorham, Windham and Standish.

“The transit, I think, should focus a little more on rails,” Gorham Town Councilor John Pressey said.

Pressey said roads are not sustainable. “We can’t afford to keep them up,” Pressey said.

Gorham Town Councilor Noah Miner asked whether the former Portland to Rochester, N.H., rail line through Gorham had been part of the study. But Paul Godfrey of HNTB, the corridor study manager, said it hadn’t been analyzed, as it wasn’t an active line. And, Carol Morris, a study facilitator, said that former rail bed is now privately owned.

Transportation experts say the three components – land use and transit along with road improvements – would be necessary.

“The keys to success are doing all three at the same time,” Godfrey said.

“You just can’t do this in a piece-meal way,” Burleigh Loveitt, a member of the study’s Steering Committee and a former Gorham town councilor, said in the meeting.

Phase 1 of the study began in 2009. Road improvement options would be studied as part of the second phase. Scott Tompkins, public relations manager for the Maine Turnpike Authority, said before Tuesday’s meeting it has $750,000 budgeted for the second phase.

But, the next phase of the study hinges on invited communities signing a memorandum of understanding to endorse recommendations of Phase 1. The other communities include Portland, Standish, Buxton, Hollis and Windham.

Phase 2 would get under way in October, Godfrey said.