Items in the News

Modification to option 2X supported by Council

March 5, 2008

Presque Isle - Following additional public comment on which bypass route city officials should support, City Council reached an agreement at Monday night’s session, voting to recommend a modified version of option 2X to the state.  

“Option 2X, as locally modified, is favored by the city because it offers the lowest farmland impacts, provides the second best transportation benefits, is located predominantly outside the growth area designated in the city’s Comprehensive Plan, has the closest intersection with the Fort Fairfield Road to the business district of the build alternatives, does not impact any historic properties or 4F parcels, impacts the least number of structures and has lower wetland impacts than 2X as presented by MDOT,” Councilor Jennifer Trombley read into the record.

Options being considered by Council included: a no-build possibility, 2X, a modified version of 2X and 6. Each looped around the city, beginning to the south of the city just north of the Westfield town line, continuing to the east around Presque Isle turning back to connect with the Fort Road near the Smith Building, crossing the Aroostook River and curving back to connect with Route 1 just north of the Family Christian Center.     

“The city supports phasing construction of modified 2X to provide that the section from Fort Fairfield Rd. to the Conant Rd. is built first, that the section from Conant Rd. to the Westfield town line is built second and that the section north of the (Aroostook) river be built when the second crossing of the Aroostook River in Presque Isle is built but not sooner than after the completion of Segment 4 in Caribou,” Trombley concluded for the record.  To see what area is affected by modified 2X, interested individuals can view the map located at City Hall.