Other highway routes sought

PRESQUE ISLE – Concern over the proposed north-south highway drew to a meeting last Tuesday approximately 50 people who want to see the Maine Department of Transportation look at alternative routes for the road, but a DOT official said later in the week he knows nothing about it.

A group of Aroostook County residents recently drafted a resolution for the DOT to stop work on its preferred route for the north-south highway, which would bypass Houlton and Presque Isle and cut through Maine’s historic Swedish colony, and asked that it look at other alternatives.

Ray Faucher, DOT project manager for the Aroostook County transportation study, said Thursday that no one had called him concerning the meeting and what issues were discussed but that the preferred corridor will remain part of the final environmental impact study as it moves forward.

He added that the DOT legally is not obliged to revise its draft environmental impact statement or offer another public comment period as the local resolution requests.

The Federal Highway Administration allowed the DOT not to revise its statement because the impact to the total human environment – housing, natural resources and economy – was about the same in the preferred route and the four proposed corridors in the document, Faucher said.

The DOT is looking at the preferred route as a corridor concept instead of an actual footprint, he said, but if traffic increases drastically, the two-lane Route 161, which is part of the route, would be a candidate for widening to four lanes.

The DOT has completed the level of analysis necessary on its preferred route north of Presque Isle but is reviewing preferred alternatives for routes from Presque Isle south to Interstate 95 to be included in the final environmental impact study, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2004, Faucher said.

The document must be completed before the Federal Highway Administration can make a record of decision on construction of the proposed highway.

Faucher also responded to local comments made at the meeting Tuesday that residents did not know that their towns were affected by the preferred route.

“We’ve been providing information and doing this study for many years. The Bangor Daily News has done numerous articles on this, and radio and TV stations have reported on it as well,” Faucher said. “Is it foolproof that we’ve contacted everyone? No, it isn’t. We’ve made more than a minimal attempt to contact everyone in the study area, but there’s no guarantee that everyone’s going to get the message.”

Faucher said the DOT will review the resolution when received before considering alternative routes for the highway north of Presque Isle. The department will base its decision on whether the resolution indicates or proposes a reasonable alternative that the DOT has not evaluated yet, Faucher said.

He added that there is still room for change and that the DOT will continue to take public comments on the highway.

“There’s nothing set in concrete until you’re prepared to advertise for construction,” he said.