FORT KENT, Maine — The prospect of expanding Interstate 95 through Aroostook County remains unlikely, so the Maine Department of Transportation has set its sights on the first modern upgrade of the region’s existing northern highway system.
During the second of three planned stakeholder group meetings, Andy Bickmore, director of the Maine DOT’s results and information office, and DOT leaders outlined the Aroostook plans to nearly 50 people in Fort Kent’s town office Thursday.
The plans center around upgrading Route 161, pending major federal funds, according to Bickmore. Route 161 runs 86 miles from Fort Fairfield to Allagash. Though the DOT typically puts a thin layer of new paving on sections of Route 161 every three or four years, that has not prevented the road from deteriorating due to immense freeze and frost heaves and heavy traffic, including that of eighteen wheelers and large delivery trucks, Bickmore said.
Many of the residents who attended the meeting asked why the DOT did not try to launch a major reconstruction of Route 161 until this year.
Maine DOT Commissioner Bruce Van Note said prior to the state’s major investment in its transportation budget this year, the DOT had largely been reliant on borrowing money, which led to more short-term fixes instead of long-term road and highway improvements.
But between the $200 million annually dedicated in the state’s transportation budget and the congressionally directed spending requests, the Maine DOT is now in a stronger position to reconstruct Aroostook’s highways, Van Note said.
“We’ve been in this mode of doing what we could do [to fix roads] but now the reality is changing,” Van Note said.
Earlier this year, legislators proposed extending the interstate from Houlton to the St. John Valley. But during a public hearing in March, Maine DOT Deputy Commissioner Nina Fisher said that federal officials determined that the project would not meet federal funding criteria. Extending the interstate, she said, would cost roughly $1.8 billion but the highest known federal grant for a similar project was $292 million.
Since then, the DOT has formed a stakeholders group to explore alternatives. Made up of state officials and local business leaders, the group has turned its focus to how Aroostook’s current highway system can be reconstructed to modern standards.
If passed by the U.S. Senate and House later this year, the fiscal year 2024 congressionally directed spending package would include $10.4 million to reconstruct the portion of Route 161 from Cross Lake to New Canada, and $8 million to reconstruct 161 in Fort Kent.
Both projects already cleared the Senate’s appropriations committee and were included in requests from Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a Caribou native.
Both road projects are in the engineering phase now, with a completion date likely falling in late 2026 or early 2027, Bickmore said. The projects are expected to go out to bid for construction contractors next year.
The Fort Kent meeting was the second time Maine DOT leaders and the Aroostook County Connections Stakeholder Group have met to gather feedback from residents before presenting a final report during a Dec.12 virtual meeting.
The group’s third and final public meeting will be held in Caribou November 14 at a location to be determined. The meeting will begin at 3 p.m., with public comments lasting from 5:30 to 6:30. People can also make comments on the stakeholder group’s website.
