Maine Department of Transportation Caribou Connector ... - Maine.gov

Caribou 6462.30
Alignment Option 4C
Alignment Option 4C, shown on Figure 3-5, was developed based on comments from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that a shorter route be considered. Alignment Option 4C
would depart from Route 1 approximately 1.25 miles north of the Route 1/North Main Street
intersection (north of the Cary Medical Center roundabout), and extend northwest across farmland
and forest before intersecting with Route 161 near Ogren Road, using the same alignment as
Alignment Option 2.
Alignment Option 4C includes 2.8 miles of new-alignment highway. A 0.16-mile section of Route 161
would be upgraded to “tie-in” to Route 16. It has an at-grade intersection with Route 1 (south) and
Route 161.
Alignment Option 4C marginally satisfies the Purpose and Need for This project. However, Alignment
Option 4C was not selected as the preferred alternative. It performed worse than all other options in
the traffic analysis because it is routed through the Route 1 roundabout at the Cary Medical Center.
Alignment Option 4C also requires the use of 2 Section 4(f) properties, both land taking from National
Register-eligible properties (Banked Dairy Barn and Colonial Revival-style House). This alignment
option would also impact more than twice as many acres of wetlands than Alignment Option 4B (7.9
acres vs. 3.4 acres) and nearly double the acres of farmland (62 acres vs. 32 acres) (see Table 3-2,
below).