By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

Seeing a mother pushing her child, with bags of groceries in the kid’s lap, in a stroller up Willett Road as cars passed on both sides of the roadway, Selectman Bear Zaidman cringed.

Walkers often jump into the nearby ditch as tractor-trailer trucks travel by.

With no sidewalks there and more people walking from developments on North High Street to Hannaford for groceries, Zaidman worries about public safety.

As selectmen prepare for budget season and debate how Community Development Block Grant funds should be spent, improving Bridgton’s sideway system could be one area of focus.

Bridgton receives about $200,000 in CDBG money. In the past, the town has used funds on public service projects such as the Navigator program at the Bridgton Community Center, assistance to the Food Pantry and funds to help supply the elementary school Back Pack program. 

A certain percentage of funds go to what is considered “bricks and mortar” improvement in infrastructure, mainly areas that affect low income residents.

Sidewalk construction is costly, which could lead to officials looking at projects in phases. Zaidman pointed out at the board’s most recent meeting that sidewalks along Route 302 are in “terrible repair” at a time when more and more development is occurring along the town’s busy stretch.

In talking with one businessman, Zaidman heard that some older residents walk across existing parking lots to avoid busy Route 302 to get to the grocery store.

Town Manager Bob Peabody said, “I couldn’t agree with Bear more.” The manager suggested officials also consider sidewalks on Highland Road, leading to the beach area, noting each summer large groups of children from the town’s summer rec program headquartered at the old Town Hall on North High Street, walk that route. Peabody feels the Highland Road project could be “knocked off immediately,” but the Willett Road project would be costly and might require a “multi-year approach.”

Zaidman asked Peabody to check with Raymond officials to see how sidewalk and street light work on Route 302 was financed.

Zaidman also wondered that when future housing development projects come before the Planning Board, whether developing sidewalks should be part of the approval process.

Selectwoman Carmen Lone thinks the town should look into developing a long-range plan when looking at its sidewalks. But, she thinks another program in dire need of CDBG help is the Bridgton Food Pantry.

Since the closure of the United Methodist Church, the future of the building has been somewhat unclear. At the moment, the pantry is on a year-to-year agreement with the church. The upstairs has recently been taken over by Community Help. Lone said the pantry location is “inadequate,” while “the need will not go away anytime soon.”

The Selectboard will hold a workshop on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 5 p.m. to discuss potential CDBG funding uses. Meanwhile, Community Development Director Linda Lacroix and the local CDC will look into whether existing Covid-19 relief dollars can be used toward some projects and whether grants exist to aid in major construction efforts.

“We need to make the town more walkable,” Selectman Lee Eastman added. “We also need to make it safe.”