MILO – The state Department of Transportation has agreed to put the Elm Street road reconstruction project out to bid this spring – provided the cash is available to do the project.

Dale Doughty, acting director of DOT’s Bureau of Planning, confirmed Monday that his department wants to move ahead with the 1.1-mile project, which includes revamping the intersection on Main Street connecting Routes 6, 11 and 16.

He said Transportation Commissioner David Cole drove over the road on Easter Sunday to assess the situation.

“We’re proceeding as if we can do it,” Doughty said. “Our intent is to advertise the project in April or May as long as the cash is available and barring any unforeseen development.”

That’s good news to Milo Town Manager Jane Jones, who on Monday said she had received no official word from DOT about the inclusion of the local project in the spring funding round.

Jones won’t be happy, however, until she receives a written commitment that the project is a go.

“What we are looking for here and now is a real or genuine commitment this work will actually be done,” she said Monday. “We want someone we can hold politically accountable for breaking faith with this community.”

Town officials say they have been told over an 11-year span that the road with its dangerous intersection will be reconstructed, but the importance of the project has grown greater with the need to replace an existing sewer line.

In 2002, the town received a $600,000 grant and loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development agency. That’s a funding commitment that has been extended over the years.

That money is now contingent on the sewer project being awarded this spring and significant progress being made by Aug. 1; otherwise the money will be used elsewhere.

Since town officials say they were told by DOT the project would be funded, they decided the best use of state and local money would be to do the sewer project in conjunction with the road reconstruction.

Bids for the sewer project have been solicited and a contract is expected to be awarded later this month.

Town officials then received word last month that the project had been pulled from the April funding round, which caused quite a stir in the community.

Doughty, who is aware of the sewer project and the funds, said the Milo project will be put out to bid in April or May. However, if the June referendum for DOT funding is not approved by Maine residents, the projects will be reassessed, he said.

That’s not good enough for Jones.

“The problem I have with half-hearted commitments is that Milo has been down that road before multiple times over the last 11 years.”