FARMINGTON — The Board of Selectmen reviewed plans Tuesday for a sidewalk project this spring that includes sections of Routes 2, 4 and 27 and through Hippach Field.

The project would create a sidewalk on Route 2, also known as the Farmington Falls Road, from Maple Avenue down to Routes 4 and 27 and through Hippach Field to Prescott Street, Town Manager Richard Davis said.

The town received approval for federal funding through the Maine Department of Transportation in 2014, he said. The money will pay 80 percent of the estimated $160,000 cost. The town’s 20 percent will be taken from a sidewalk reserve account. 

The Board of Selectmen in 2015 approved contracting with Wright Pierce Engineers to develop a design plan. Travis Prior of Wright-Pierce Engineers presented preliminary plans to the board last May. 

The project started as a citizen initiative to provide safety for pedestrians on the heavily used roadway. Sarah Martin worked on the grant application and came before the board to cite a need for the sidewalk.

The use of grassed areas on the side of the road by pedestrians indicates the need.

“There is a well-worn footpath there,” Davis said. “This will make it safer.”

The sidewalk would connect with one on Farmington Falls Road at Maple Avenue and go toward Main Street past Pro Service to the corner.

The entrances to Pro-Service will be made narrower to provide more safety for pedestrians, Davis said. Owner Leon Heckbert has agreed to the plan.

At the corner, the sidewalk would go behind the fence at Hippach Field through a grassy area of the park, passing near the Little League field, he said. It would continue in front of the grandstand and on to the parking lot where a new crosswalk will be made on the park’s road. On the other side of the crosswalk, the sidewalk will continue through a lawn to Prescott Street.

abryant@sunmediagroup.net

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