For most of a decade, state and federal agencies had “determined that an alternative must provide a limited-access connection between I-395 and Route 9 east of Route 46 [and] Alternatives that would connect to Route 9 west of Route 46 would severely impact local communities along Route 9 [and] would substantially increase the potential for new safety concerns and hazards.” Instead, the MaineDOT opted to construct an alternative that did not satisfy that decade-long established Study Purpose or the System Linkage Need and the Traffic Congestion Need.