Patten can’t afford to repair national monument access roads

PATTEN, Maine — Increased traffic on roads leading to the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument is creating unsafe driving conditions and a financial hardship on Patten’s resources and infrastructure, officials said.

The national monument directs visitors into the Seboeis Parcel of the 87,500-acre attraction in northern Penobscot County through four Patten roads that are deteriorating from the increased use. Engineers have estimated repairing the roads could cost as much as $28 million.

These roads — Happy Corner, Frenchville, Waters and Barleyville — feed into the American Thread Road, about a mile-long logging road leading to the monument that can be uneven, rocky, muddy, and rugged. The National Park Service alerts drivers to use caution on the roads, some of which run along streams and do not have guard rails.

About 4,000 annual visitors travel the Patten access roads that were originally built as wagon trails and old potato farm byways never intended to carry significant traffic. There are 90 homes on the four roads that are also accessed daily by school buses transporting area children to and from school, town officials said.

“It is a huge concern to the residents of Patten and it’s just a financial obligation that the town cannot meet,” said Patten Town Manager Gail Albert. “We have not received any financial assistance from the federal government to help with the road maintenance.”

Town officials recently hired Dirigo Engineering to evaluate the condition of the four roads and outline needed repairs. The roads have paved and gravel surfaces.

Depending on the level of repair or restoration, the project will cost between $16 million and $28 million, according to the engineering report, an amount the town of 881 does not have the tax base to support, Albert said.

Patten’s population has been dwindling with little industry and no jobs for young people to remain in the community. The poverty rate is 34 percent compared to 29 percent statewide.

“Any increase in property taxes for road repair is simply not an option,” she said. “We don’t own it, it is federal government land and these people are coming on our town roads because of this national monument ”

The National Park Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

National Park Service National Monuments are established by the President and are protected areas similar to national parks. The Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, designated by President Barack Obama, is made up of 13 parcels donated by Elliotsville Plantation Inc. and Roxanne Quimby, owner of Burt’s Bees .

Albert has been in contact with Maine U.S. Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins for Congressionally Directed Spending financial support, she said, adding that the senators have been supportive of her concerns.

The town is also seeking Federal Land Access Program support that supplements state and local resources to improve access roads into federal lands.

The four roads need to be rebuilt from the base to top layer. There is a thin layer of mud and clay in the sub-base that must be removed prior to laying down gravel and stone before a 3- to 4-inch asphalt layer then top coat is applied, according to the engineering report.

In addition, there are several small streams located along these roads that now have narrow bridges with no guard rails to protect motorists from going off the road into the water.

“This can be a dangerous condition for motorists who are unfamiliar with the roads,” Albert said. “The roads are also shared by the Amish community with their wheeled wagons, bicyclists and all-terrain vehicles. Wider shoulders are needed for the safety of these alternate forms of transportation.”

In the meantime, signs on I-95 direct visitor traffic to the national monument via Patten. And the National Monument website directs visitors through the Town of Patten from the interstate at both north and south exits.

“We feel very strongly that the government, the National Park Service, should maintain or provide funding for the road maintenance,” Albert said. “This is just not sustainable for the town.”