2015.05.27 Council Agenda Item 09
Summary
Order to accept the Route 100 Vision Report recommended by the Route 100 Committee and to authorize the Town Manager to issue a Request for Proposals for Preliminary Engineering Services.
A public comment period will be included with this item (3 minutes).
ACTION: Council action is anticipated
Description
In 2014 the Town Council appointed an Ad Hoc Route 100 Committee and charged it with development of a Vision Plan for the Route 100 area. The scope of the work of the committee extended from the Portland City line to the Cumberland Town line.
The committee toured the Route 100 area and conducted extensive public outreach. Consultants Wright-Pierce and T.Y. Lin International assessed existing conditions and performed a traffic analysis.
The committee’s recommendations that are described in the Route 100 Vision report fall in four general categories:
- Traffic, roadway, and intersection improvements,
- Pedestrian and bicycle improvements,
- Public sewer improvements, and
- Land use and development changes.
Total estimated cost of the improvements is $10.1M. Local Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds and MaineDOT funds are recommended to be the major financing tools.
The Council is requested to accept the recommended report and authorize the Town Manager to issue a Request for Proposals for Preliminary Engineering Services.
Once proposals are received and evaluated by the Town, the Town Manager will bring back a recommendation which consultant should be hired as well as a request for appropriation of the required funds for this phase of the project. The funding source for this phase is the West Falmouth Crossing Tax Increment Financing District.
It is anticipated that Preliminary Engineering may be complete by December 2015 or January 2016. The final Preliminary Plan will be brought back to the Town Council for review and acceptance. Regular consultations with the Ad Hoc Route 100 Committee, Community Development Committee (CDC), and the public are envisioned at key moments during this process.
During the Preliminary Engineering phase Town staff will continue to explore and secure funding support for the project from other parties, such as MaineDOT.
The project could be ready for a Falmouth Voter Referendum in June 2016. If approved at that time, construction could start in spring 2017 and potentially be complete later that year.
Attached are the committee’s 32-page report and 122-page appendix with back-up material.
