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Selectboard reviews sidewalk project

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Grant funding has been set aside for new sidewalk that will be constructed from Maple Avenue along Farmington Falls Road down to Main Street, pictured here at the intersection. The sidewalk will be constructed where the guardrail is shown.

FARMINGTON – Selectmen reviewed a proposal to use federal grant funding to build sidewalks near Hippach Field at Tuesday evening’s meeting.

The board accepted a $103,508 Federal Highway Administration grant, administered through the Maine Department of Transportation, back in 2013. Sarah Martin, a former University of Maine at Farmington adjunct professor in the Department of Community Health and Recreation, wrote the grant to construct a sidewalk that would run from Maple Avenue along Main Street past Hippach Field and to continue east to Prescott Street. The federal funding was made available in 2012 for bicycle and pedestrian projects, but then put on hold until 2016. It is contingent upon a local match of $25,877, which will be allocated from the town’s sidewalk reserve account.

The plan is to construct sidewalks that would begin at the Maple Avenue and Farmington Falls intersection, run along the east side of the Farmington Falls Road down to Main Street, round the corner to the right, duck inside the Hippach Field fence and exit through a gate to the existing sidewalk. A new sidewalk will be added across the front of Hippach’s parking lot to Prescott Street and connect with the sidewalk at Abbott Park.

Martin said at a 2013 meeting that she lives south of town and found there isn’t a safe route to walk to Hippach Field and into town because of a lack of connecting sidewalks. After accepting the grant, selectmen voted last year to hire Wright-Pierce to oversee planning for the project.

The current schedule would see bids for the project opened this summer, in order to construct the sidewalks during the autumn construction season.

 

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10 Comments

  1. Has any looked into grant funding to extend the side walk in Farmington past hannaford- possibly to walmart, the hospital or even the hotel? There are an increasing number of people walking on the road to and from that area, and in poor weather it really isn’t always safe.

  2. We have one sidewalk in New Sharon on the bridge over the Sandy River, that has to be cleared of snow since the iron bridge was torn down. There is no other way to cross the river, except for swimming. It costs a lot of money, a lot, to keep that sidewalk clear of snow in the winter. Will there be an even greater, long term expense for Farmington to keep the sidewalks open that have been proposed?

  3. Bill Reid…

    So you think making our citizens walk in the streets is okay. Do you really have an idea of how much it costs?

    It is good to see the town of Farmington making good improvements for their citizens to move about safely!

  4. I second Kat’s suggestion; it’s not very safe for people with mobility or balance problems even in good weather.

  5. Bill, correct me if I am wrong but your not a Farmington resident. Right?

  6. I’m with Kat and Really on this one. There is a LOT more foot traffic in these areas than there was just a Few years ago. People too poor to be able to drive where they need to go must walk. They Should be able to do it safely.

  7. By the way, there are a number of reasons people may be walking. health, ecological awareness, and OUI convictions, to name but a few.

  8. I think Bill was just pointing out that there may be a grant to construct the sidewalk but it won’t be free.

  9. How about the stretch of Front Street from McD’s to the UMF parking lot? Not only is there no sidewalk but there is no shoulder. I walk this way to work everyday, and in the pre-dawn dark(especially in the winter) it dangerous and scary!

  10. No room between the hospital and the hotel for a sidewalk. People would get hurt going down a steep hill if the sidewalk was built in the gulley area between these locations.

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