SANFORD – A renewed local focus on municipal investment in Sanford’s downtown has created discussions within the walls of City Hall and also with a state partner that may result in infrastructure improvements by the mid-2020s.

Conversations that started at a Maine Department of Transportation conference in December have resulted in the city entering into a Planning Partnership Initiative that, once complete, will outline projects that could be included in the state Transportation Department’s annual three-year work plan, said Sanford Public Works Director Matthew Hill.

The city is currently included in the Maine DOT three-year work plan with projects totaling about $8.75 million, but Hill and others are hoping this new initiative will spark more local investment by the DOT.

It already has, to a degree. Under the PPI program, Maine DOT picks up about 50 percent of the cost of a planning and feasibility study to evaluate safety, mobility and improvements to compliment local economic development efforts.

“We started asking how we could get more projects in the three-year work plan,” said Hill earlier this week. “The more we can bring, the less burden on the local taxpayer because (those) projects are 80 percent federal-funded and 20 percent state-funded. That is the highest and best value for the city.”

Hill was directed to DOT Regional Planner Jennifer Brickett, who explained the PPI program.

“This initiative is intended to address time-sensitive, locally-initiated planning and feasibility studies that occur outside Maine DOT’s normal annual Work Plan cycle,” said Brickett in an email. “The approach is to study, evaluate, plan and scope transportation projects on or adjacent to the state transportation system with Maine DOT as a partner.”

She said the PPI program, initiated in 2014, is intended to be simple, flexible, and fast-moving for new economic development and other high-priority proposals .

It could mean new sidewalks, roadways, and other improvements as the city looks to the mid-2020s, said Hill.

The call for bids references intelligent transportation systems, bicycle and pedestrian facilities design, highway design, traffic data collection, lighting design, utility coordination and more.

Once a firm is selected, it is expected to take about a year to complete.

“The PPI will look at safety, mobility and innovation and a strong economic piece tied in,” said Hill.

One example is the possibility of WiFi downtown – which Hill cautioned is just in the “talking stages” right now.

“We may be replacing the overhead (street) lights with a model that includes WiFi,” he noted. He said the PPI plan will address options like that, and provide cost estimates as well.

Brickett estimated the DOT has PPIs with 13 municipalities. Some examples include the town of Mount Desert, which evaluated safety improvements along Route 3; a downtown traffic study in Waterville; and a downtown vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian study in Berwick.

“This lets the City Council, city manager and the DOT make informed decisions,” Hill said of the PPI.

He noted that while funding is not guaranteed, all but one PPI has been incorporated into the state’s three-year work plan.

He noted projects could move forward two ways: Under the DOT’s work plan, where the funding split is 80 percent federal, 20 percent state, or under a Municipal Partnership Initiative with DOT, whereby the funding is 50/50 state and municipal.

Hill noted the city has already been working on issues ranging from drainage innovations to Sanford’s broadband project, an agreement with DOT to rebuild Cottage Street, a topographic survey of downtown and other endeavors.

“This is really the story of Sanford and is it going to be up to the leaders of the community to get this vision out to the public and to spread that vision to others and help generate that economic spark,” Hill told the Sanford City Council at a July presentation.

“We appreciate the enthusiasm and also we imagine a new downtown by 2024, which seems like a long time away, but there’s a heck of a lot of planning between now and then,” Mayor Tom Cote said as he thanked Hill and the others who worked on moving the project forward.

“The state money is going someplace,” said Sanford City Manager Steve Buckt. “This (PPI) “will influence that it gets spent here.”

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 780-9016 or twells@journaltribune.com.