BYPASSING THE COUNTY

Aroostook County’s economic needs are deep and long, and are largely tied to the geographic fact that its modest-sized service centers – Houlton, Presque Isle, Caribou and Fort Kent – are separated from the rest of the state by vast unpopulated areas. Creating a more efficient transportation link between the heart of The County and more economically vibrant areas like Greater Bangor, the Kennebec Valley and Canadian Maritime population centers like St. John makes good sense.

But short of building a high-speed rail line to run between Lincoln and the St. John Valley, the only way to improve that transportation link is to ensure that U.S. Route 1 from Houlton north is well-maintained, includes passing lanes where needed, and has wide shoulders. In an era in which the state has to borrow money to take care the infrastructure it already owns, spending millions on a four-lane highway through the region and building bypasses around Presque Isle and Caribou, as is proposed, is not practical.

While improving the Route 1 corridor, Route 161 and other secondary roads will facilitate commerce in The County, there are facets of this project that are not justified. In particular, spending $71 million to build a Route 1 bypass of downtown Presque Isle and $31 million to build a bypass around Caribou seem disproportionate to the traffic management concerns. The Department of Transportation estimates that the Presque Isle bypass, if a 10-mile new highway is built, would decrease truck travel time by just 10 to 15 minutes.

In the summer, Wiscasset, Camden and Ellsworth all see traffic jams that approach standstills, especially compared to those in Presque Isle and Caribou. Mitigating these coastal congestion bottlenecks usually involves upgrading existing roads, not building new roads and a bridge, as is being considered for Presque Isle. In the late 1980s, the DOT proposed a bypass of Camden that drew hundreds of angry opponents to a meeting, which persuaded DOT to quickly kill the project. Towns that were bypassed decades ago by new highways often see it as a mistake today, because it effectively cuts off tourism.

No one likes to see trucks rumbling through downtowns. But Presque Isle and Caribou might do better to designate truck lanes and routes than to build a highway that skirts the downtowns.

County boosters are correct in arguing that transportation is critical to economic development. But asking the state to invest in highway improvements – even if it is largely using federal funds – is not done in a vacuum. The County, just like other regions of Maine, will not get a blank check from the state for its needs. Community leaders might do better to seek funding for technological infrastructure improvements and research and development endeavors, rather than put bypasses at the top of their wish list.