PORTLAND — After 36 years of transportation planning, it’s time for John Duncan to hit the road.

“A lot of people have been invested a long time and I will miss being with them and their regional involvement,” Duncan said this month before his last day at the Greater Portland Council of Governments on Dec. 21.

Duncan, 66, arrived in 1982, when he became a public transportation planner with the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System. Seven years later, he became director, a post he held for 29 years before PACTS merged with GPCOG this year and Duncan became the agency’s cooperative purchasing director.

Formally designated in 1975, PACTS is one of four regional agencies in Maine distributing state and federal highway funds. In Duncan’s tenure, it expanded from seven to 18 member communities in Cumberland and York counties.

“I came into a regional process that was strong and I was happy to be here,” he said. “I did not see the same level of commitment to the region when I worked in Massachusetts and Connecticut.”

PACTS Director Sara Zografos said the agency now disburses about $28 million annually for transportation planning, projects and studies. The money is largely federal, with some from the Maine Department of Transportation, and member communities typically share 25 percent of project or planning costs.

The agency also has a policy committee of municipal elected and staff officials from member communities, including Cumberland Town Manager Bill Shane, South Portland Planning Director Tex Haeuser, Scarborough Town Manager Tom Hall and Portland Mayor Ethan Strimling.

One of Duncan’s assignments with PACTS was to help secure federal funding with members of the Casco Bay Island Transit District in Portland for a new car ferry. As he departs, the agency is again involved in planning along Commercial Street to balance the competing interests and improve transportation and access.

Over the years, PACTS has played a role in reconfiguring congested intersections at Dunstan’s Corner in Scarborough, and, more recently, on Forest Avenue in Portland as it passes through Woodfords Corner.

Planning and projects have moved beyond exclusively considering vehicles.

“The interest and commitment to improving our pedestrian and bicycling infrastructure has really been exciting to watch,” Duncan said. “We have done a lot here with that in the last 10 years.”

Some areas have evaded lasting solutions, Duncan added.

“The Gorham East-West Corridor remains a major bottleneck,” Duncan said of the confluence of Route 22 and Route 114 below the Gorham Bypass.

Working within its “Destination 2040” framework, PACTS also looks to help link the Eastern Trail with a bridge over the Nonesuch River in Scarborough, get a link from Gorham to the Maine Turnpike, and reduce congestion in Saco and Biddeford with improved traffic signals.

While his direct work with the public is more limited, Duncan said he always enjoyed working with local officials and tracking how well funding was used.

“A major investment of public resources needs to be done thoroughly and with all voices heard,” he said.

Married to Portland Development Review Manager Barbara Barhydt, Duncan said he looks forward to traveling opportunities and taking classes for his own enjoyment at the University of Southern Maine. He will pitch in on some GPCOG work, too.

“It feels awkward at times, looking at retirement,” Duncan said. “But in the last couple of months, I have come to look forward to it.”

David Harry can be reached at 780-9092 or dharry@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidHarry8.

John Duncan retired from Greater Portland Council of Governments on Dec. 21 after almost four decades in transportation planning.

Traffic waits for the signal at Route 114 and Route 22 in Gorham, an area retiring transportation planner John Duncan said remains a bottleneck in greater Portland.

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