HERMON, Maine — Residents will be asked to fund the local portion of planned improvements for the section of Route 2 that runs through the town’s village district during a special town meeting Thursday night.
During the meeting, set for 7 p.m. at the Hermon Public Safety Building, residents will consider applying up to $385,000 from the town’s tax-increment financing revenue pool to the last of three phases of improvements that will be done next year, according to a letter that the Town Council is sending to residents and has posted on the town’s website.
Among other things, the improvements will provide for a better design for a tricky intersection, a new sidewalk connecting with the Billings Road sidewalk and extending all the way to Danforth’s Plaza, new drainage and granite curbing, four pedestrian crosswalks with a pedestrian signal light at Hermon High School and paved road shoulders.
The improvements will fulfill several aspects of the Village Master Plan residents adopted in 2009 as a way to create a pedestrian-friendly town center that complements the rural character residents want to retain.
The first phase, which will cost about $1.3 million, is being paid for in federal and state funds and is scheduled to go out to bid next March, local officials noted.
It calls for the reconstruction of the intersection at Route 2 and Billings Road, beginning at the intersection of Old Stage Road and extending to the Hermon Baptist Church parking lot.
The Maine Department of Transportation also will pave the roadway from the end of the intersection project to the easterly driveway leading into Danforth’s Plaza. The MDOT has agreed to include a sidewalk and granite curbing within the scope of the intersection project at its cost.
The second phase is expected to cost $504,000 and will go out to bid next April, town officials said. The town’s 20 percent local match, which also is being funded with TIF proceeds, was approved during last year’s annual town meeting.
This work will begin at the end of the intersection project and extend to the shopping plaza. It will result in a new sidewalk, drainage improvements, granite curbing and driveway and lawn improvements that complement the project.
The last phase hinges on the approval of the $385,000 local share at next week’s special town meeting. The balance of this phase’s projected $555,000 price tag will be paid for with a $170,000 Initiative and Partnership grant from the MDOT, town councilors said.
That work will run from the end of the intersection project to the plaza and will result in pedestrian lighting, shoulder improvements, granite curbing at selected areas on the south side of Route 2, four crosswalks, a crosswalk pedestrian signal light at Hermon High School, striping and driveway and lawn improvements to complement the sidewalk and shoulder improvements.
That work is scheduled to go out to bid next April, contingent upon voter approval.