WINDHAM – Windham Center Road could soon be wider thanks to recently secured funding from the Maine Department of Transportation.

The state committed last week to paying for half of the $712,000 project, which will install 11-foot travel lanes and 4-foot shoulders. At its meeting Tuesday, Aug. 14, the Town Council is likely to provide local approval for the project, which would widen the road from the Gorham line to the school campus.

Since Windham Center Road, which has erosion issues and no shoulder, is a state-owned road, the town applied for funding under the Municipal Partnership Initiative, in which the state funds up to 50 percent of a project if the town performs the work.

Widening the roadway, Public Works Director Doug Fortier said, will not only help walkers or bicyclists, it will help preserve the roadway “by keeping it from eroding from the outside in.”

Fortier said the sides of the road will be rebuilt with gravel, and roadside ditches will be lined with special matting to prevent washout of soils. Crews will start work the week of Aug. 20 installing cross-culverts to improve drainage, work that would be done even if the council rejects the project. Reconstruction, if approved, will start soon, with at least a base layer of asphalt installed by winter.

According to Kyle Hall, southern region engineer for the state transportation department, Windham got in on the tail end of a $7 million one-time allotment of money by the state for the Municipal Partnership Initiative. When Windham applied, Hall said, there was about $700,000 left in the fund, which has already aided 22 other Maine communities and commenced in June 2011.

Due to many factors, Hall said the state has little money for highway restoration and seeks to work with towns whenever possible so projects that are low on the state’s priority list but important to local officials can get done. The state, he said, also saves money since towns have fewer federal regulatory requirements when rebuilding state-owned roads than the state does.

“It’s going to be many years before we get to Windham Center Road,” Hall said. “So, Windham decided it was important enough locally that they wanted to invest in it, and we’re willing to invest in it along with them.”

Since town officials were trying to spend the least amount of money to rebuild the road in order to save for other needed projects, the widening probably wouldn’t have happened without the urging of the newly formed Windham Bicycle-Pedestrian Committee, which is working with town planners regarding townwide cycling and pedestrian issues.

The Town Council was slated to spend $475,000 on a repaving project in May, with the state funding half the cost, but sided with those calling for a widening. The leading proponent was Martin Shuer, who’s running for the District 12 Senate seat and is a member of the committee. Shuer is especially happy to see the project coming to fruition.

“Little by little, bit by bit, people involved in the bike/ped committee came forward and got their two cents in at council meetings and said, ‘This is a really necessary initiative, and it’s not just about bikes and pedestrians but about everyone who uses this road.’ So it kind of picked up its own energy,” Shuer said.

Since the widening would lead to and from the Windham school complex, RSU 14 Superintendent Sandy Prince, who said most students arrive by bus, is supportive of the project, as well.

“I think in the scheme of probably a long-term picture, certainly any type of 4-foot paved shoulders, just given the traffic and kids coming to school, would be good. I think it’s all about safety,” Prince said. “And I think whenever we can look at ways to enhance the sidewalks or shoulders along the roads, it really is about promoting safety for not just children but adults, as well.”

The Town Council will vote soon on whether to fund half of a project to fix Windham Center Road. (Staff photo by John Balentine)