Gray Corner Gets New Side Streets on Paper, and the Paperwork Runs to 2028

MaineDOT's traffic model for Gray Village compares two versions of the same short drive. In one, the village stays as it is today. In the other, MaineDOT builds the plan it showed the town on October 13. Driving north on Portland Road from the Big Apple to northbound Shaker Road at Dunkin takes 8.78 minutes in the first version and 2.72 minutes in the second. That is about six minutes saved on a trip you can see from end to end.

The plan gets that time back mostly by adding streets. Two new connector roads would let traffic get around the Route 202, Yarmouth Road and Portland Road junction. Center Road would lose its direct connection to Route 202, and the signals along the corridor would be linked so they work together. The schedule matters as much as the drawings. The project is funded for preliminary engineering only, and its next big document, the Preliminary Design Report, is due in February or March 2028.

Four trips, before and after

The presentation MaineDOT and HNTB gave on October 13 at the Henry Pennell Municipal Complex modeled four trips through the village. Each trip ends at a business most Gray drivers pass every week.

The two trips that start on Portland Road improve the most. Both have to cross the junction where Routes 202, 115 and 26/100 meet, and that is the spot MaineDOT says the connector roads are meant to relieve. The two trips from the I-95 ramps also get faster, saving 2.42 and 2.97 minutes.

Two new roads take the pressure off the main junction

The project covers about 2.03 miles of roadway and connector work. Two pieces of it don't exist today:

1. The Center Road Connector, a new one-way road from Route 202 to Center Road.
2. The Portland Road Connector, a new two-way road from Center Road to Route 26/100.

The presentation gives these roads two jobs. They should cut congestion at the Route 202, Yarmouth Road and Portland Road intersection, and they should give local drivers other routes so they don't have to go through it. The signals along the corridor would become interconnected and adaptive. They would be timed to cut down on unneeded stops and queues, and they would get updated, ADA-compliant crossing equipment. Raised center islands are part of the Route 202 redesign as well.

MaineDOT's project page lists one more goal that fits with the connectors: "Reduction of unnecessary intersection legs." Today several roads feed straight into the village junctions. The plan sends some of that traffic onto new streets, so fewer roads meet at any one corner.

Center Road gives up its corner

Under this plan, the clearest change in daily driving would be on Center Road. MaineDOT's presentation names the intersection of Center Road and Route 202 as a high-crash location. The design would remove Center Road's direct connection to Route 202 and rebuild about the last 500 feet of Center Road south of Route 202. Center Road would become a dead end at that point.

That only works because of the two connectors. Coming from Route 202, you would take the one-way Center Road Connector to reach Center Road. From Center Road, the two-way Portland Road Connector would take you to Route 26/100. Taken together, the closed corner and the two new roads replace one busy intersection with a small loop of local streets.

Nearby intersections would change shape too:

• Shaker Road and Brown Street would be realigned where they meet Route 202. The Town's information sheet says the goal is better sight distance and pedestrian safety, and that the town monument will stay.
• Brown Street would also be realigned at its other end, where it meets Yarmouth Road and Hancock Street.
• Colley Hill Road would be realigned where it meets Route 202, for better sight distance and safety.

The same plan, on foot

The connectors are aimed at drivers. Most of the 2.03 miles is about walking. These are the walking and biking features the presentation lists for each road:

The drawings use 11-foot travel lanes throughout. Shoulders run 3 to 5 feet depending on the segment.

This half of the plan goes back to ideas Gray has worked on for years. The Town's project history says the November 2020 Comprehensive Plan called for village growth in a denser, more walkable pattern. A June and July 2022 event called "Un-pave Paradise" drew more than 200 people, and a workshop with the business community followed in February 2024. MaineDOT's own list of goals ends with "An enhanced New England village identity."

The calendar is the real constraint

According to the official documents, construction has no date yet. This is the timeline they give:

• November 2024: The Gray Village Transformation Project Study is completed. The current design builds on it.
• June 2025: MaineDOT and HNTB begin preliminary design.
• March 4, 2026: Open house. The Portland Press Herald reported that within 20 minutes of opening, attendance had passed the 50 people a town official expected.
• June 2026: Gray voters approve Article 9. It lets the Town Council use money from the Town's TIF accounts for up to 10 percent of the project's total cost, a share the Town currently estimates at $3.5 million.
• October 13, 2026: Preliminary public meeting. The Town reported that the Council Chambers were packed.
• January 2027: Horizontal and vertical alignments are scheduled to be finished.
• February or March 2028: Preliminary Design Report.
• After that: No dates set.

The information sheet is direct about funding. The project is currently paid for through preliminary engineering only, and construction will need more money. MaineDOT's project page says the same thing. Later milestones are TBD because funding runs through the final Preliminary Design Report.

The October drawings are also not final. MaineDOT describes them as preliminary and subject to change, and says it will review public comments and adjust the design where it can. The information sheet lists what later engineering will decide: exact sidewalk, path, bike lane and crosswalk locations; on-street parking and driveways; utilities; and right-of-way needs. So the six-minute savings in the model belong to a design that will keep changing until at least 2028.

Seeing the plans after the comment window

MaineDOT's virtual public meeting ran through Wednesday, October 28, the day before this post went up. The material from it can still be viewed:

• The full October 13 meeting is posted as a recording on YouTube.
• The MaineDOT project page has the public notice, the information sheet and the presentation slides to download.
• The Town's project history StoryMap covers the planning from 2020 on.
• Questions can go to Ernie Martin, MaineDOT's Senior Project Manager, at 207-624-3381 or [email protected]. He also handles requests for the traffic modeling files.

If you're wondering how a multi-year road project in Gray Village could affect a home you own, or one you're thinking about buying, Hoang Realty is glad to go through the published plans with you and keep track of each milestone between now and the 2028 design report. Start Your Search with a team that follows Gray Corner closely.