North-South Highway scheduled to start in Caribou during next year

16 years ago
By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer

    After years of planning, Aroostook County residents can expect construction of the North-South Highway to start in Caribou.

ImageContributed map
    Section 4 of the North-South Highway is shown above in greenish-gold and orange. This portion of the highway will be 4.28 miles long (3.7 miles of new construction and 0.58 miles of upgraded existing right of way) and is anticipated to cost $20 million. Construction is expected to begin in 2010.

    Governor John E. Baldacci announced on March 4 that he has instructed the Maine Department of Transportation (Maine DOT) to advance an Aroostook County transportation project so that construction can begin in 2010. The Caribou Connector included in the Aroostook County Transportation Study will become a stand-alone project separate from the Presque Isle Bypass segment.
    “This segment of the Aroostook County Transportation Study is ready to go forward, and the people of Aroostook County are eager for work to begin,” said Gov. Baldacci. “The Caribou Connector will play an important role in the infrastructure development planned in Aroostook County, and I look forward to continuing to work with the Maine legislators, Congressional Delegation and people of the County to improve the critical connections that will open up new opportunities in the region.”
    "I do believe that it's going to get done,” said Caribou City Manager Steven R. Buck. “It's been difficult for people to truly envision that the North-South Highway is going to happen because whereas it's been worked on for such a long period of time, construction hasn't actually started on any piece. A prime example of why I can say that it's going to get done is the fact that the entire Aroostook County State Legislative Delegation sat through the meeting we had on Feb. 12, they sat through a phone conference we had on Feb. 26, which I think is exceptional; I don't know if other areas could have all of their delegation working together in such a bipartisan fashion to make this happen in a quicker manner that it would have otherwise,” he added.
    “The Governor and the Department of Transportation are behind the project at this point, so [the Caribou Connector (Segment 4)] will be the first piece of the North-South Highway that will be constructed; we have an assurance that separating the Caribou and Presque Isle piece will not slow down progress on the Presque Isle piece whatsoever,” Buck said.
    According to a press release from Governor Baldacci’s office, Maine DOT will expedite the construction of the Caribou Connector in the 2010 construction season utilizing existing resources obtained by the state’s Congressional Delegation.
    The two segments within the Caribou Connector are estimated to cost $20 million out of the $40 million in the account of Maine DOT allotted for this project.
    The federal Delegation initially funded about $50 million for this project. The costs of design, public hearing process, permits and other expenses have reduced that balance to $40 million.
    Construction on this highway that has been in the works for years is beneficial for multiple reasons.
    "This project started well over a decade ago, and what we continue to hear is that it's difficult to get raw products in here and it's difficult to get finished products out of Aroostook County because of hindrance within our transportation infrastructure,” said Buck.
    “Originally, the goal was to have a true interstate system flowing through Aroostook County. I think the reality is that we're going to have a two-lane limited access corridor which will greatly expedite the transportation of goods and services; whether the Aroostook County study looks at large firms, like McCain’s or Fraser Paper, and starts adding up the amount of trailer trucks bring used per day, some of these companies use 300 to 400 trucks. They need this kind of corridor to lower their cost of goods and services,” Buck explained.
    “The other thing that the study is looking to achieve is improved connectivity within Aroostook County so that there exists a greater ability to commute to employment centers throughout Aroostook County. The project is solely going forward on the basis of economic development. Typically, these projects are only looked at when your highway systems are at capacity. It's not a capacity issue for us; it's an economic development issue,” he added.
    Despite the relatively urgent needs of businesses, construction also needs to start in order for additional funds to be obtained.
    “The federal Delegation can't work on our behalf to bring in more funding if they can't show that we've constructed anything, and nothing's been constructed at this point,” explained Buck, “it's all been in design and public hearing processes and permitting and such; so there's $40 million still sitting in Maine DOT's account dedicated for this project. Our Aroostook County delegation wanted to be of assistance to expedite this process,” he added.
    According to Buck, Caribou now has what's called a LEDPA, which is a Least Environmentally Damaging Practical Alternative, and that LEDPA is for option 4b, (see photo) which is the gold color section and the orange colored option 4b.
     “The Army Corps has given us a permit for option 4b,” explained Buck. “The Army Corps ruled out the other option because there was too much wetland impact; anywhere that you see blue on the map, those are known wetland areas. Since the two other alignments crossed over a lot of that wetland area, the Army Corps’ prime objective on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency is to rule out unreasonable wetland impacts. Option 4b touches virtually no wetland area, that's why it was favored by the Army Corps.”
    Though the project has taken significant steps forward, public input is still requested.
    “In Caribou, there still are a number of landowners, both residential and commercial, that are going to be impacted by this new corridor,” Buck said. “The city has worked diligently to lessen the impacts to those property owners and we're going to need strong public input into the process as we move into final design so we can further decrease those impacts and ultimately have as few impacts on any land owners as possible.”
    Public forums regarding these issues are still pending a timeline from Maine DOT. Information will be made available to the public regarding upcoming forums.