Flooding causes road closures

 Fort Fairfield and Washburn were among the hardest hit as a result of last week’s flooding that affected towns across Aroostook County.
Mike Bosse, Fort Fairfield’s town manager, said the Route 1A bridge was closed Tuesday evening to through-traffic, then re-opened about 28 hours later. The rising water level of the Aroostook River caused large slabs of ice to slam against the bottom of the bridge, resulting in town officials determining safety was an issue for motorists crossing the bridge and closing the structure for more than a day.
“Riverside Avenue was closed around the same time. We sent a payloader in the next day to clean out icebergs,” said Bosse. “Russell Road at McCray Flats saw similar circumstances. Part of the road was washed out. We used ice as barricades, posting signs limiting traffic to a single lane.”
Bosse said several roads sustained damage from flooding in and around Fort Fairfield.
“We had several other roads closed due to washouts — particularly the shoulders and culverts got washed out. The Dorsey Road still has issues. Forest Avenue has been repaired. The Currier Road had water backed up, and a culvert and part of the roadway was damaged, but it’s passable now,” he said.
Mapleton Grove Road also had water flowing across it at one point.
“Strickland Road was shut down for two days due to a washed-out culvert. We’ve made temporary repairs until the water goes down. Water was going across both the West and Center Limestone roads, which washed out culverts,” noted Bosse.
Bosse said the shoulder of the roads and the gravel beneath the roads were affected most.
“Many roads sustained such damage, affecting the shoulders and gravel beneath the roads. In many cases they were still passable but reduced to single lanes,” he said.
He said flooding on the Russell Road and McCray area were due to the river, while Forest Avenue, Currier, Maple Grove, Strickland, West and Center Limestone roads were due to spring runoff.
“Most of the damage was due to spring runoff. We had an ATV and walking path bridge wash out on the east side of town. The bridge spans over 20 feet. Water dumped into the brook that flows into the Aroostook River — it’s the brook off Puddledock,” he said. A motorist escaped injury when her vehicle got pulled into water at the Puddledock intersection of Main Street when she ventured into the wet roadway.
No injuries were reported from the flooding in Fort Fairfield but Bosse said he’s had a couple reports of property damage.
“A resident on the West Limestone Road reported losing a culvert that a brook flows through; it got washed out,” he said.
Bosse said town officials are still assessing the damage.
“To replace the bridge over the brook and restore the walking path would probably cost us $15,000-$20,000. It’s unlikely we’d consider that. If the funds become available through the Emergency Management Agency, we might divert funds for that. As far as roadways, we haven’t been able to do much of the repairs, since our gravel is still frozen in a pile. We have plenty of materials, we just don’t have access to them at this time,” said Bosse.
Bosse noted town staff and community members have been fantastic through it all.
“It’s been a smooth ice-out. It could have been a lot worse. The dike played its part,” said Bosse. “If it hadn’t broken up below us and had broken in Caribou first, we would have had it much worse. A lot of people put in a lot of hours; we would have been much worse off without their efforts.”
Flooding occurred in parts of Washburn, beginning early Tuesday evening. A section of Main Street/Route 164 was reduced to one lane north of town near the Mill Pond, as spring runoff caused the northbound lane to fill with water. Garage Street near the high school — and where the Public Works Department is located — was completely flooded at the intersection with Route 164. Other streets and roads in Washburn also sustained flooding as melting snow at higher elevations caused water to drain downhill, heading west toward the Aroostook River.
The worst flooding in Washburn occurred on the Washburn Road/Route 164 south of Crouseville, when the Aroostook River flooded its banks, forcing large ice chunks inland and causing water to mix with spring runoff in the area, covering both lanes completely for about a quarter-mile stretch of road.
Mars Hill was one of the more fortunate communities, with town officials reporting minimal flooding.
“The Robinson Road closed briefly when Rocky Brook overflowed its banks. Rod Mahan’s lawn was flooded,” said Interim Town Manager Ray Mersereau.
“Mars Hill didn’t have any major issues. We had a couple culverts on the Carney Road we were watching, but everything’s returned to normal,” said Mersereau.
The Aroostook Emergency Management Agency kept citizens up-to-date on road closures, posting affected roads on their Facebook page. As of April 16, he following roads were reported to have partial or complete flooding and road closures: Blaine — Robinson Road Bridge; Bridgewater  — U.S. Route 1; Caribou — Caribou Lake/Old Washburn Road, Roosevelt Ave., Grimes Road, Grimes Mill Road and River Road; Cross Lake Township — Cyr Road; Fort Fairfield — Bridge on Route 1A (Main Street), Riverside Drive, Forest Ave., Main Street, and Currier, Dorsey, Grimes and Strickland roads; Hodgdon — Catalina and Jackins Settlement roads; Houlton — Route 2 by Porter Settlement Road; Island Falls — Old Patten Road/Bog Brook Road and Route 2/Dyer Brook; Limestone — Grand Falls, Blake, Bog and Ward roads; Mapleton — Hughes and Pulcifer roads; Presque Isle — Henderson Road at Phair Junction, Chandler Road at #78 (culvert washed out), Burlock and Egypt roads; St. Agatha — Flat Mountain Road near Chasse Road; and Washburn — Route 164 near Langille Road and Annis Road off the Parsons Road.
AEMA officials remind citizens to “never cross water on roadways,” since it’s “impossible to gauge the depth or integrity of the roadway beneath.” They urge everyone to “report all flooded and blocked roadways to your local municipality, adhere to road closures and barricades and stay safe.”