Shore Road Path not set in stone

  published in the Current  

CAPE ELIZABETH – The dream of a two-mile walking path along Shore Road in Cape Elizabeth, connecting the town center at Route 77 to Fort Williams Park, took one step closer to reality last week, with the receipt of a $729,000 grant.

That’s good news for the project, which has floated around town in various states of planning since 1993. The bad news is that it might not be enough.

The Maine Department of Transportation grant covers 70 percent of the $1.04 million construction cost, but it also requires a 20 percent local match.

A local group, Safe Access for Everyone (SAFE), has raised $80,000 in private donations to date. Town Manager Michael McGovern says $26,000 remains of $100,000 the Town Council appropriated in 2009 for path design and surveying. Other available funds, he said, include $60,000 from a town center sidewalk fund and $40,000 in credits from the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System (PACTS).

That leaves the kitty short by $107,000. Perhaps most galling to fans of the path project, what’s available so far will cover actual construction costs. The missing money, McGovern said, is almost entirely for contingency – money set aside for possible cost overruns.

“The project won’t start until we get that, or the council decides we don’t need any contingency,” said McGovern. “That’s going to be the controversy over the next month or so.”

“We have some work to do,” said SAFE co-chairman and treasurer Jim Kerney. “Many of our gifts have been $20 and $25, so it’s a long and arduous path to get to the numbers we are looking for, but I am confident that it will happen. That’s what our mission has been, to generate community interest.”

Town Planner Maureen O’Meara said Monday that all permits are in place. 

“Everything was designed to be in the right of way,” said O’Meara, “so nothing will be taken by eminent domain. We did ask for one drainage easement, and that was donated by the Barber family.”

The only thing holding up the project is a green light from the council. If that does not happen by October, O’Meara said, the grant could be in jeopardy.

McGovern says the path project will be on the agenda for the next council meeting. What happens, he said, is anybody’s guess, especially considering that when the councilors appropriated $110,000 last year at least one member said no more should come from town coffers.

Kerner noted that, once before, a grant was awarded to build a sidewalk and bike lane where the path is planned. The council, he said, rejected the money.