Committee moves to forward two UPI sidewalk grant applications to full council after questions on prioritization and maintenance

City staff told the Infrastructure Committee Monday that the city submitted two Urban Partnership Initiative (UPI) grant applications in February to extend sidewalks on two corridors in Bangor and asked the committee to forward the requests to the full council.

The first application requests state UPI funds to build about 2,550 linear feet of new six-foot-wide, ADA-accessible paved sidewalk along Alban Road from Hammond Street to the area in front of the former Ground Round restaurant. Staff estimated the project cost at $335,000; the UPI program requires a 50 percent local match, leaving a local share of $167,500 proposed from the city’s FY 2026 pedestrian-safety improvements account.

The second application covers roughly 4,200 linear feet of new six-foot-wide ADA sidewalk connecting streets in the business park area — described as Northeast/Corporate Drive, connecting Hamlet Street to Main Avenue. Staff estimated that project at $450,000 with a $225,000 local match. The presenter said individual projects under the UPI program are capped at $750,000 in state funds and that the program’s roughly $3 million annual appropriation is split among four metropolitan planning organizations serving the region.

Councilors and staff asked several questions before the committee moved to advance the applications. One councilor said the administration should provide a prioritized list of sidewalk projects; staff said the city uses a prioritization approach that considers where people walk, school walking routes and major arteries. The Mountain Hope Avenue sidewalk project was referenced as already in design with construction funding timing described as not specified for this discussion.

Public Works Director Aaron Hootery told the committee that adding sidewalks does not automatically mean the city will plow them and described sidewalk maintenance as part of the public-works prioritization and resource planning. Hootery said sidewalks are prioritized by school walking routes first, then major arteries; he said Corporate Drive likely would not be a high priority for plowing but Main Avenue might be, because of its connections.

A committee member moved and another seconded to advance the two UPI grant applications to the full council for consideration; the committee chair said the items will appear on the council agenda next week. The committee recorded no committee vote tally in the transcript.