PORTAGE LAKE, Maine — Over the past year, efforts between the Portage Lake and Eagle Lake ATV clubs has resulted in a new ATV access route along Route 11.
The Portage Lake ATV Club has been unable to connect a path leading them to the Eagle Lake ATV trail. They’ve spent months working towards securing an access route, about a mile and a half along Route 11.
Since the access route passes through unorganized territory T14-R6 and the town of Portage, the ATV clubs had to ask for letters of support from both the town of Portage and Aroostook County Commissioners before sending their request to the MaineDOT.
According to Portage Lake ATV Club President, Alyce Bryant-Reece, the club has received a letter of approval from the DOT for the new access route. Bryant-Reece said she’s overwhelmed at how cooperative the town of Portage and County Commissioners have been.
“I can’t tell you how positive this is. It opens up the entire northwestern section of Aroostook County,” Bryant-Reece said.
There are multiple access routes in almost every community throughout Aroostook County. The MaineDOT typically approves access routes with paved shoulders greater than 4 ft. The new access route on Route 11 does have a paved shoulder, which ATVs will take advantage of when making their way between trails.
Bryant-Reece said this new access route is just a first step towards the clubs’ future goals. “As soon as we get this up and going, we’re going to pull Washburn in. From there we’re going to try to tie Portage into Ashland,” she said.
Jim McGinnis, Region 5 traffic engineer for MaineDOT said there were no concerns with the clubs’ request for the access route along Route 11.
