Scarborough officials have narrowly voted to delay withdrawing the town’s support for a controversial toll highway planned west of Portland.
Despite a town hall packed with opponents of the Gorham Connector, a resolution against the four-lane roadway failed on a procedural vote Wednesday night.
A majority of the seven member council wanted to vote on the resolution immediately after officials from the Maine Turnpike Authority and Maine Department of Transportation presented updates regarding the development.
But there wasn’t a super majority on the seven member council needed to suspend meeting rules and add the resolution to the meeting agenda.
Councilor Karin Shupe said the transportation agencies offered no new information to convince her the highway was a good idea. She urged fellow councilors to allow a vote on the resolution.
"I don’t see anywhere else to go when we have a plan before us from an organization that seems unfortunately somewhat disorganized at this point," Shupe said. "I do not support it. I think that we should stop kicking the can, stop waiting around and just make the decision."
Maine lawmakers authorized the turnpike authority to develop the Gorham Connector in 2017 in an effort to address persistent rush hour traffic between Gorham and Portland.
The proposed four-lane toll highway would run between Turnpike exit 45 in South Portland about five miles to the Gorham Bypass, an intersection of routes 112 and 114.
Transportation officials believe the new roadway will ease morning and evening rush hour traffic that spills onto local roads.
But the plans have faced increasing opposition from local residents, conservation groups and public transportation advocates. Opponents argue the huge project will not solve the region's traffic problems and harms the environment.
Agitation against the connector heightened this winter, after many learned it would be built through Smiling Hill Farm, a locally beloved dairy operation in Westbrook.
Dozens of residents, many wearing red "Help Save Smiling Hill Farm" t-shirts, filled the town council chambers Wednesday and detailed their opposition to the roadway during a public comment period.
Before the meeting, opponents rallied in front of town hall to pressure the council to rescind a 2022 Memorandum of Understanding with the turnpike and nearby municipalities in support of the highway plan.
Stanis Roberts said he helped organize his neighbors against the project. Under the turnpike's current plan, part of his land would be turned into an interchange and his neighbor's home would be bulldozed, according to Roberts.
"We are just trying to pull this together and somehow try to get the message that the utter destruction this turnpike, if it were to go through, would cause to all of us in its path," he said.
But opponents and some councilors will have to wait until at least October to get a vote on a resolution authorizing the Scarborough town manager to withdraw from the 2022 agreement.
Council Chair Nick McGee also noted there was longstanding practice not to vote on a matter immediately following a workshop. It would be "disingenuous" to act on the resolution right after turnpike and transportation department officials made a presentation to the council, McGee added.
But Councilor Donald Cushing, who introduced the resolution, said procedure was getting in the way of action.
"I can’t possibly imagine leaving this room tonight with the conclusion being that this council failed to act on what the public wanted us to do because of their past practices," Cushing said.
Turnpike officials, meanwhile, acknowledged mistakes in their approach to the proposed highway.
Spokesperson Erin Courtney told councilors the agency intended to take a step back and slow down development. Staff have recommended the turnpike board of directors take the highway off its current four-year construction plan, she added.
Courtney said the agency plans to start from scratch with public outreach by publishing regular status updates, sharing the decades-long background to the plan and offering more chances for public input.
The turnpike is "hoping we can all come to a consensus that we see that there needs to be additional measures taken" to address congestion, Courtney said.
The Scarborough council intends to revisit a resolution against the project next month.