KINGFIELD — A working group in Franklin County is making plans to deal with an increase in traffic and other effects when the rebuilt border crossing station and expansion is completed on state Route 27 in Coburn Gore Township.

County Commission Chairman Bob Carlton of Freeman Township and Vice Chairman Thomas Skolfield of Weld started the group, which held its first meeting Saturday at the Kingfield Town Office. Fourteen stakeholders attended, Carlton said Wednesday.

The U.S. General Services Administration plans to spend up to $95 million to modernize the U.S. Customs and Border Protection station on the Quebec border. Completion of the project is five to six years out.

Carlton suggested at a commission meeting some months ago that a working group be formed to get ahead of the effects on towns, roads, emergency services and more. Commissioners approved forming the group.

A couple of meetings were held in 2023 and 2024 with the General Services Administration leading the way at the border to explain the project and get insight from stakeholders. The deficiencies at the border entry fall into two broad categories: limited capacity and facilities for port operations; and the buildings’ condition, Paul Hughes, GSA regional public affairs officer for the New England Region, previously said.

The station is about 20 miles northwest of Eustis.

Meeting with Carlton and Skolfield were town managers, town representatives, congressional members’ representatives, state legislators, Maine Department of Transportation representatives and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.

With the expansion in Customs and Border Protection capabilities and functions, it is anticipated that traffic will increase after the expansion is completed, according to Hughes.

The GSA intends to deliver a fully operational commercial land port of entry, inclusive of current Customs and Border Protection inspection technologies to upgrade the operations of the permit port. The GSA is analyzing site alternatives as part of the environmental assessment, in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, according to an email from Hughes in February.

“Since the new (land port of entry) is designed to handle bigger loads and serve as a full inspection site, we expect traffic will increase. It’s very early in the process, so we have not yet quantified the amount of additional traffic anticipated from the new facility,” Paul Merrill, spokesman for the Maine Department of Transportation, wrote in a Feb. 28 email.

According to Carlton’s notes, the MDOT will install message boards on state Route 27 this year.

Other talking points were that two bridges will be replaced in the next several years.

The group discussed the need for long-term planning for the effect of more services and the potential effect from the border to the intersection of state routes 4 and 16 in Kingfield.

They also discussed the need for long-term planning.

Representatives of the committee plan to get data on what the commercial traffic is now and what to expect when the project is completed.

There has been a steady increase in traffic along state Route 27, which has put a strain on fire departments, emergency medical services and law enforcement, Carlton previously said.

The group plans to meet again once the traffic data is collected along with the state transportation department’s plans of how it will deal with it.