PHILLIPS – The Department of Transportation is seeking a federal permit to fill some wetlands in an $11-million plus road construction project. The project is expected to shift an existing 90-degree corner near Smalls Falls to a new easterly alignment by going through a mountain to bypass the corner.
Nearly 7.6 miles of Route 4 will be reconstructed in a two-phase project that would run from just north of the Phillips Middle School to 2.8 miles north of the Letter E Township/Sandy River Plantation line.
The project would be funded by 80 percent federal money and 20 percent state money.
The state is seeking a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit for the project that includes placing gravel and sand below the ordinary high-water line of numerous unnamed streams and in adjacent freshwater wetlands to reconstruct and upgrade two segments of Route 4 in Phillips and Madrid.
The proposed work is to provide two 12-foot travel lanes and 5-foot paved shoulders.
The first phase of the project is slated to begin this summer, said project Manager Keith Cowan on Friday; it runs 3.76 miles from just north of the Phillips Middle School between Phillips Village and the Sandy River. Construction for this segment is estimated to cost $4.5 million and is already funded. It will include full reconstruction, extension to the northbound truck lane, a new southbound truck lane and paved shoulders.
The Madrid Township 3.8-mile project is estimated to cost $6.98 million for construction and it is anticipated that funding will be included in the state transportation work plan in 2006-07, Cowan said.
The project would begin about 50 feet south of the Madrid/Letter E Township line and extend northerly to end 2.8 miles north of the Letter E/Sand River Plantation line. Construction will include full reconstruction, adjusting cross slopes, replacing culverts, minor riprap adjacent to Sandy River and paving shoulders. The corner near Smalls Falls is proposed to be fixed in this portion of the project, Cowan said. About 1.30 acres of wetland and stream bottom would be impacted.
To compensate for the project’s unavoidable impacts to aquatic resources, the state DOT proposes a two-part mitigation plan, Cowan said. Under the plan, the state would buy a 1,050-acre parcel of upland and wetland habitat adjacent to Rangeley Lake and abutting Rangeley Lakes State Park to preserve the wetlands.
The project includes implementing a stream restoration and enhancement project along South Bog Stream, a tributary to Rangeley Lake.
The U.S. Army Corps is soliciting comments on the proposed measures from interested or affected members of the public, as well as from agencies that speak in the public interest.
After receipt of comments, the Corps will obtain any necessary additional information from the application and determine whether the proposed measures are practical and serve to help mitigate this project’s impacts, said Corps permit Manager Jay L. Clement Friday.
The application for the federal permits was filed with the Corps in compliance of the Clean Water Act.
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