Opposition to the proposed Gorham Connector has reached fever pitch, with a grassroots group issuing a report outlining its preferred alternatives to a project more than 30 years in the making.

At the same time, town councilors in Scarborough, one of four communities that would be impacted by the connector, are poised to take a stand against the Maine Turnpike Authority’s project unless the proposal is altered substantially to address growing public concerns.

Mainers for Smarter Transportation (M4ST) this week published “Alternatives to the Gorham Divider,” a 38-page compilation of “cheaper, faster, greener and reversible” ways to address commuter traffic congestion west of Portland instead of “a costly, damaging and irreversible turnpike expansion.”

The volunteer organization discussed some of the alternatives at a community meeting Thursday evening at the Westbrook Community Center that drew more than 75 people from across Greater Portland.

The Maine Turnpike Authority’s proposed route for the Gorham Connector linking the Gorham Bypass and Exit 45 in South Portland.

“Congestion is a real thing, but there are different ways to deal with it,” said M4ST member Cary Tyson, a Westbrook resident, at the start of the meeting.

Asked for a show of hands, no one at the meeting indicated they supported the connector project. M4ST members said they invited the authority and the Maine Department of Transportation to Thursday’s meeting, but both agencies declined.

Tyson and others say the connector proposal is based on stale commuter data and obsolete highway design goals in an attempt to shave an average of 4 minutes off morning and evening drive times. They question the design, cost, safety and need for the project, as well as its impact on the environment, regional economy and overall quality of life in South Portland, Scarborough, Westbrook, Gorham and beyond.

M4ST is a coalition of individuals, nonprofits and other groups seeking alternatives to highway expansion in Greater Portland. So far, over 12,000 Mainers have signed the group’s petition calling for a halt to planning the Gorham Connector.

Coalition members include GrowSmart Maine, Trout Unlimited, Sierra Club Maine Chapter, Smiling Hill Farm, Moving Maine Network, Portland Bike Ped Advisory Committee and Westbrook Safe Mobility and Access Committee.

The M4ST report blames localized rush-hour congestion on poorly designed and outdated intersections along routes 22 and 114 that have become choke points for regional traffic.

It recommends installing roundabouts and smart traffic signals at chronically congested intersections; redesigning existing roads to better accommodate rush-hour traffic and people biking, walking or otherwise rolling; and pushing ahead with a long-planned rapid transit corridor between Portland and Gorham.

Most of the recommendations come from previous proposals by other municipal, regional and state agencies; members said the report was reviewed and endorsed by a panel of five reputable local and national urban planners.

The authority has spent at least $4.5 million acquiring land needed to build the 5-mile, four-lane spur, which is expected to cost well over $200 million to complete. It would run from Maine Turnpike Exit 45 in South Portland, through Westbrook and Scarborough, to the Gorham Bypass at Route 114 in Gorham.

The project faces mounting concern from opponents who believe it will worsen suburban sprawl and the commuter traffic congestion it’s meant to tame, as well as from people who want to prevent it from cutting through Smiling Hill Farm on County Road in Westbrook.

In July, the authority announced it would extend its original timeline for public comment and permit applications for the increasingly controversial connector project. The goal was to ensure a thorough review and integration of public feedback and accommodate upcoming leadership turnover at the authority.

Michael Knight, co-owner Smiling Hill Farm and Hillside Lumber interacts with Joan Jett, an Angus Holstein crossbreed at the farm on Feb. 9. Maine Turnpike Authority plans to put the Gorham Connector through a wooded area on the west side of their property. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

The decision to extend the timeline followed a community meeting hosted by the authority in Gorham in March, when agency officials and their consultants heard more than three hours of public comment on the connector proposal. Similar meetings were expected to be held soon after in Scarborough, Westbrook and South Portland, but were never scheduled.

Peter Mills, longtime executive director of the authority, announced in June that he would leave the agency in early September. The authority didn’t respond to a request Thursday for an update on leadership changes at the agency. However, M4ST members attended an authority board meeting Thursday when Mills was honored on his last day with the agency.

Mills has said previously that project applications to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection would be submitted later this year.

More recently, Peter Merfeld, the authority’s acting deputy executive director, sent a letter to city and town councilors in the four communities that previously signed a memorandum of agreement to support the connector project.

“We acknowledge the delay in public meetings has raised questions related to the project at your council meetings,” Merfeld wrote in the Aug. 5 letter. “While we have been thoroughly evaluating the public input received so far, we will begin to communicate through smaller public sessions and regular website updates.”

Merfeld said the authority will continue to weigh feedback and look at other solutions, road alignments and mitigation strategies suggested during public meetings, “even if they were previously dismissed.”

One of those meetings will be a Sept. 18 workshop with the Scarborough Town Council, when authority representatives are expected to outline the history of the connector project. Later that evening, the council is expected to vote on a resolution asking the authority to ramp up public review of the connector proposal and adjust it to meet community expectations.

“(Turnpike officials) have lost public support and they’ve started to lose the confidence of town officials,” said Jonathan Anderson, a Scarborough town councilor.

“A lot of people, including myself, aren’t convinced that a four-lane toll road is the best solution,” Anderson continued. “This may be too big of a solution for the problem it aims to solve and it’s creating other problems I’m not sure are worth creating. And it may be the best solution on paper, but not the solution our communities want.”

The resolution also will ask the authority to halt purchasing land in Scarborough for the connector and to have the connector proposal reviewed by an impartial outside firm to ensure it’s the best solution. Anderson said he has discussed the resolution with councilors in the other communities but doesn’t know whether they will take similar action.