Improvements to come following MaineDOT Aroostook County Advisory Stakeholder Group

AROOSTOOK COUNTY, Maine (WAGM) - Improvements should be made on Route 161, Route 11, and Route 1 - this is what came out of the Maine Department of Transportation’s Aroostook County Advisory Stakeholder group.

The group met throughout 2023 to discuss improvements that could be made to Aroostook County infrastructure, specifically to connect the St. John Valley with the rest of the county.

Maine DOT Commissioner Bruce Van Note says the advisory group was a success.

“I think it helped us crystalize what we’re going to be doing here at Maine DOT for the people in the County,” Commissioner Van Note says. “The County’s almost 20% of the state geographically with about 5% of the people, so you need a lot of highway to keep people connected.”

The Maine DOT’s final report from the stakeholder group committed to conducting new Corridor Management Plans for sections of Route 161, Route 11, and Route 1 in order to better understand what work needs to be done.

“What this requires you to do is look at an entire corridor,” Commissioner Van Note says, “like Route One - you’ve got 150 miles to look at, and just holistically, what is the purpose of the corridor?”

The Maine DOT will take a closer look at Route 161 this year and will be examining the other routes in 2025 and 2026.

One other key part of the commissioner’s final report included the Village Partnership Initiative, which allows municipalities to discuss their goals and apply for grants to improve their downtown communities.

“You want to make sure the place you’re getting is a place you want to live, and it’s a good place at human scale - pedestrians,” says Commissioner Van Note. “So, you’re thinking more bike paths, human speeds, slower scale, not ‘how fast can I get to the next place?’”

Caribou is one of the county towns to partake in this initiative. City Manager Penny Thompson explains why.

“What they want to see is a return to the great American downtowns, and Caribou has a great downtown,” Thompson says. “But we also want to make sure that our traffic patterns are meeting the needs of both our citizens and visitors to the region.”

Thompson adds that this initiative should help improve downtown economies by making them more suitable for residents and visitors. “It’s really about economic development and making sure we have safe traffic patterns, and to make it more walkable,” she says.

Improving downtowns and the existing roadways will not only affect county residents, but tourists who come to the area for the scenic roadways.

Jacob Pelkey, of the Northern Maine Development Commission, explains that most tourists come to the county via roadways.

“Aroostook County is a drive market for a lot of visitors, and so when they’re coming here and their first impression is that roadway and the condition of it, you get a lot of feelings from that road,” Pelkey says. “Does it have great views? Does it have proper signage? Does it meet your expectations of what a good road is to the county?”

One final part of the Commissioner’s report stated that an extension of Interstate I95 will not happen any time soon. The extension of I95 to the St. John Valley has been a topic of discussion for many years, and was commonly brought up at the stakeholder meetings held throughout 2023.

In the report, Commissioner Van Note writes, “We will not pursue an extension of I-95 for the foreseeable future. Such an extension is not feasible, practical, or prudent from a cost, impact, and permitting perspective. Instead, MaineDOT and local and regional leaders should continue to work together toward reasonably scoped projects on existing highways that will yield meaningful and tangible transportation improvements for The County.”