Stonington — Just hours before the Board of Selectmen was expected Wednesday night to approve an application to seek $500,000 in state funding to install sidewalks along a stretch of Route 1 in Pawcatuck from the high school to Pequot Trail, a man driving a motorized wheelchair in the area was critically injured when he was struck by a car.

While the spot where the man was struck near the intersection of Mayflower Avenue Monday morning does have a sidewalk, other nearby sections have no sidewalks, forcing pedestrians into the street.

The accident occurred just after 10 a.m., and the driver of the motorized wheelchair, Raymond A. Lanphere, 77, of Pawcatuck, had to be flown by Life Star helicopter to the hospital. Route 1 was closed for more than two hours as police reconstructed the accident. The driver of the car was identified as as Mary L. Wise, 67, also of Pawcatuck. 

On Wednesday afternoon, First Selectman Rob Simmons and Selectman Mike Spellman pledged to finally get the sidewalk project completed after it was first proposed more than 15 years ago.

“There’s been a lot of talk about this, but we’re going to get it done,” promised Simmons.

Two large housing projects, Brookside Village and Stonington Arms, are located along the street and two new ones, Spruce Meadows and Spruce Ridge, are slated to open later this year. Pedestrians, cyclists and several handicapped people using scooters use the road to reach the high school and Human Services Department, the shopping plaza next to the police station, the Pawcatuck Shopping Center and downtown Pawcatuck.

Former First Selectman Don Maranell said that just before he left office in 2001 the town had obtained funding for the Pawcatuck streetscape project, which included installing sidewalks from the high school to downtown.

Maranell said the idea for the sidewalks became clear when students at the time from Stonington High School staged a walkout in support of three students accused of sexually assaulting a female classmate and marched along Route 1 to Wilcox Park in Westerly. But the project languished for a decade, and when it was finally completed with escalating costs the sidewalks were not part of it.

Simmons called it a “sad irony” that the crash occurred the same day as selectmen had an item on the meeting agenda to approve the sidewalk grant application.

He said that when new Director of Planning Jason Vincent came on board earlier this year, he was instructed to dig out the old plans and seek grant funding for the project.

Simmons said the application must be submitted by May 31. He added that another $60,000 to $80,000 of design work may be needed and the town would have to begin negotiations or use eminent domain to acquire the property along the road for sidewalks.

He said additional funding from the town budget or other grants may be needed to complete the work.

Spellman said that when he was campaigning door to door last fall the subject of the sidewalks kept coming up.

“This is something I wanted to see happen during my time in office so kids can walk from the downtown to Stonington High School. I’ve been worried about this for a long time. But you don’t want a tragedy to have to drive home something that you think is necessary,” he said.

Spellman said he has walked and jogged along the stretch of road on many occasions and said he knows how dangerous it can be.

“This is something that needs to get done,” he said.

j.wojtas@theday.com