FORT KENT, Maine – Fort Kent could receive $3.2 million for road work, as the Maine Department of Transportation is applying for the money via Congressionally Directed Spending later this month.
Part of the work includes planned improvements on Pleasant Street via DOT’s $10 million Village Partnership Initiative. This portion of the Village Partnership Project is projected to cost $700,000. It will be matched via a $70,000 contribution from the town.
Fort Kent town council on Monday unanimously approved taking this money out of the town’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) fund to cover their share.
In addition, the CDS funding would also cover highway maintenance and preservation work on Route 1 going toward Allagash, and a segment between Route 11 and Bridge Street to the intersection of Route 1. This segment includes Pleasant Street.
Altogether the work covers roughly four miles. The DOT is requesting a total of $3.2 million for the Village Partnership work and the additional highway maintenance and preservation work.
The Village Partnership program identifies where accessibility, safety, and transportation can be improved throughout towns in the state. Other Aroostook towns involved with the program include Caribou, Madawaska, Presque Isle and Van Buren. The program’s study team also identifies ways to improve each town’s aesthetic features.
In late 2023, project officials presented their findings and listened to public concerns regarding traffic safety in Fort Kent for the Village Partnership project. The Fort Kent study team consisted of town officials, the Northern Maine Development Commission, and architectural firms TYLin and Rasor Landscape Architecture, along with the MaineDOT Bureau of Planning.
Officials shared a 10-year crash study during last year’s meeting, and said 57 crashes were reported at the light near Pleasant Street and Main Street.
Proposed work on Pleasant Street includes creating a multi-use path. To do this, the five-foot shoulder and five-foot sidewalk would transition to one 10-foot multi-use path. The shoulder would be reduced to two feet, and the travel lanes would go from 12 feet each to 11 feet each. The shoulder on the other side would also be reduced from five feet to two feet.
Pleasant Street contains the University of Maine at Fort Kent as well as the town’s public schools. It is one of six “Character Areas” identified for the project.
Other character areas include Main Street South, which transitions to the rural part of town, Main Street Downtown, which has the historic village center, Main Street Center, which runs parallel with the riverfront, Main Street North, which transitions to the rural part of town, and Market Street, which includes the rail yard and commercial properties.
