Bypass still a distant reality
By Elizabeth Prata

The Smith house on Shaker Road, purchased by the Maine Department of Transportation as part of the upcoming Bypass project, is being moved. However, it is not a DOT initiated occurrence. The house was bought by an abutter and will be moved to suit his needs.

The Bypass is a DOT project long-slated to be built from Route 202 near the entrance to the Northbrook Business Park and crossing over to empty at Shaker Road just north of the Turnpike bridge. The idea is that offloading traffic from Exit 11 will travel the proposed Bypass road, circumventing the constricted Village center. Gray Village has a small intersection where local business traffic, residential traffic, commuter traffic, and five state routes converge daily on the overwhelmed intersection. The numbers of vehicles that pass through every day have caused the intersection to be termed by DOT as a Level F: failed, because of the gridlock that occurs during peak travel times.

Holly Anderson is the Bypass Project Manager. She said in an interview with The Monument that the Environmental Assessment phase has been completed and they are moving into the preliminary design phase.

"We've been working on design during the EA, so we are pretty far along, near the end, of the design phase," Anderson said. The team is also working on the environmental mitigation package, analyzing new traffic data and intersection design, communicating with the Turnpike Authority as to the funding split, and determining the scope of work on the Turnpike bridge.

"We are looking to have an informational meeting with the Town in Spring 2004," Anderson continued. "We will be sending out bids in December of 2005, at the earliest." The obstacle ahead is the property issues, "Which will be big," she said, with the several neighboring abutters feeling less than included in the process and are communicating their opinions on the subject with the DOT now.

With bids going out no earlier than the end of 2005 or perhaps early 2006, and a two-year construction phase, the Bypass will not become a reality for regional residents and commuters for a while yet.