County forum to focus on I-95 plan

PRESQUE ISLE – Brenda Jepson thinks Department of Transportation officials haven’t been listening to local concerns about the proposed north-south extension of Interstate 95, but they’ll have to lend an ear if the entire county comes together on the issue.

DOT officials, however, say they have received local input on the highway at every step of the process and will continue to do so.

Jepson, the New Sweden resident who founded the informal group Leaders Opposing Aroostook Dismemberment, and town officials from Houlton to Fort Kent are planning to hold tonight “the biggest town meeting in Maine’s history.”

The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the Presque Isle Inn and Convention Center.

The organizers have invited residents from all over Aroostook County to voice their opinions on the DOT’s preferred highway route, which would bypass Houlton and Presque Isle and cut through the heart of the Maine Swedish Colony. They hope to reach a consensus that they can present to the department.

“Can they really ignore all these towns?” Jepson asked on Friday. “Over 110 miles worth of local voices?”

Jepson had the idea to hold the meeting after reading a Bangor Daily News article about north-south highway concerns in Houlton.

“A man from Northern Maine Development Commission said a countywide meeting might help,” she said. “I thought, ‘The MDOT is never going to hold a countywide meeting on the issue, but it’s a good idea.'”

Organizers booked a convention center room with a capacity to hold 150 people, and they’re hoping as many residents will attend to discuss the proposed highway.

Meeting officials have invited Maine’s congressional delegation and DOT representatives to attend.

Ray Faucher, DOT project manager, said Monday that he had not received an invitation to the meeting and knew nothing about it.

Faucher said the project to extend I-95 north of Houlton has been discussed for the past 10 years and that the public comment period on the four proposed corridors in the Draft Environmental Impact Study closed in April 2002.

He added that the DOT will continue to receive comments on the study in general and that residents can give their input at any point in the process.

Jepson countered, saying that allowing residents to give their input has not affected any modification yet. But she and other organizers are hoping that with the grass-roots effort, that will change.

“They haven’t really listened yet, so it’s a long shot,” Jepson said. “But you can only hope that if the public will is loud enough, they’ll have to listen.”