Nine years after planning began, work on William Clarke Drive in Westbrook is yet to begin.

WESTBROOK – When planning the reconstruction of William Clarke Drive, officials were concerned about the project coinciding with the replacement of the Westbrook Street bridge, thus tying up two of the city’s busiest throughways.

But the bridge project was completed three years ago, and the William Clarke Drive reconstruction still has yet to go out to bid.

Planning for improvements to William Clarke Drive – long recognized as an unsafe road for motorists and pedestrians – began in 2000, but funding problems, design changes and, most recently, right-of-way issues have delayed the construction for years.

“It’s been a very long and occasionally frustrating process,” said City Administrator Jerre Bryant.

The improvements would include adding a sidewalk to the south side of the street, redesigning the intersection with Westbrook Arterial; constructing a raised, landscaped median; and adding left-turn lanes at Stroudwater, Spring, Brackett and Mechanic streets. A new traffic signal would be added at Mechanic Street and the existing signals between there and Westbrook Arterial would be replaced.

The state Department of Transportation told the city this month that the project would be advertised to contractors in November and construction would begin in the spring of 2010 – a year later than representatives from the department told the city in January.

According to City Engineer Eric Dudley, the city spent $8,000 to obtain the right of way needed from 15 property owners along William Clarke Drive in 2002. The Department of Transportation certified those acquisitions in 2003, but the city, which planned to pay for the improvements through the downtown tax increment financing district, didn’t have enough money to move forward with the project at the time.

About a year and a half ago, Dudley said, the project was handed over to the Department of Transportation, which asked that the road be redesigned in phases, delaying the project again. But after presenting a plan to residents this winter for construction to start this past spring, representatives from the department came to the city with concerns about the right-of-way acquisitions.

Dudley said the department in February asked to see all of the city’s documents regarding the rights of way acquired, which the city had ready within two weeks. According to Dudley, the department said it would send someone to review those documents a week later, but no one showed up until August.

Because the city didn’t follow certain federal guidelines regarding eminent domain, the state asked Westbrook to vacate its rights to the property so that the transportation department could acquire the land itself.

Shawn Smith, project manager, said the Department of Transportation was trying to meet deadlines for statewide stimulus projects at the same time as it was dealing with the right-of-way issues, which included addressing concerns of property owners, causing the delay.

The transportation department told the city this month, as it wraps up the process of acquiring the right of way, it plans to advertise the project in November and to complete construction in the summer of 2011.

Originally called Wayside Drive, the road was built in the late 1960s as a bypass for commuters from the west, so that they could avoid driving through the city’s downtown. However, the road comes between Main Street and a dense residential population, making it dangerous for those residents who want to walk to the parks and businesses downtown.

Despite the delays, once the construction is completed, Bryant said, “it’ll be a very positive project for Westbrook.”

Residents still see a desperate need for improvements to the road. Crossing William Clarke Drive from Church Street Wednesday, pedestrians talked about the close calls they’ve had trying to negotiate the fast-moving traffic.

“I’ve almost been hit by a car six times,” said Katie Leighton, who moved to the neighborhood just months ago.

William Kennedy said he’s had to develop a strategy for making it through the crosswalk without getting hit.

“I have to walk halfway out and stop in each lane,” he said. “People don’t care about the signs.”

Smith said that the improvements include making crosswalks more visible and adding more lighting to the street.

“It’s going to benefit everybody, the pedestrians and the traveling public,” he said.

Because the plans handed to the Department of Transportation last year were designed in 2003, Smith said, the delays were necessary to make sure the project is as good as it can be.

“We want to make sure everything is taken into account, especially when you’re dusting off a project that’s six years old,” he said.