Up to $600,000 in town funds will be set aside to finish Brunswick’s multiyear sidewalk reconstruction project, which has run more than $1 million over budget to date.
The most recent appropriation to the Maine Street streetscape project will allow for construction on the Lemont Block of downtown. The block is located on the west side of Maine Street between Town Hall Place and Pleasant Street and is home to businesses including the Lemont Block Collective, Maine Street Bistro, Broadway Delicatessen, Pura Vida Day Spa and Gulf of Maine Books.
The Lemont Block has a narrow, steep sidewalk that has presented challenges for the project, Town Manager Julia Henze told the Town Council at Monday night’s meeting.
To maintain compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the town proposed extending the curb into the street, a project that could cost up to $600,000. This also allows for space for outdoor dining and vendors in front of the storefronts.
The council Monday night unanimously approved the funding for the Lemont Block construction, which will come from the downtown tax increment financing district fund.
Because the bump-out of the Lemont Block will require the town to eliminate some diagonal parking spaces along Maine Street, the council also approved a separate but related agenda item Monday night to convert Town Hall Place into a one-way street, allowing for parallel parking.
Streetscape over budget
Construction on the downtown streetscape began in spring 2024, planning to complete the sidewalks on the west side of Maine Street in 2024 and on the east side in 2025.
However, the project faced several roadblocks. Two major unintended costs were the need for multiple flaggers to direct pedestrians on Maine Street during construction and storm drainage issues discovered under the sidewalks, Henze said in a memo.
To date, the town has spent more than $5.6 million on the streetscape project, over budget from roughly $4.4 million originally planned for the project.
And in July 2025, the town learned that the Maine Department of Transportation would not receive a federal grant intended for five infrastructure projects in Brunswick, including reconfiguring the intersection at Maine and Pleasant streets.
Prompted by the project overages, the council appropriated $925,000 in downtown TIF revenues in August to complete construction on the east side of Maine Street.
“This project has obviously gone well out of control for a lot of reasons,” Henze said Monday night.
The town plans to put the Lemont Block construction project up to bid for contractors and complete the sidewalk in the fall, according to a Town Council memo.
This story was originally published by the Maine Trust for Local News. Katie Langley can be reached at klangley@metln.org.