Eastern Trail
News Archives

On this page we provide an archive of past news articles about the trail, from 1999 through 2003:

November 2004 News: 

• The Scarborough marsh Bridge is OPEN!!  A wonderful Grand Opening Celebration was held under beautiful sunny skies on Sunday, November 14th.  Click here for pictures!

• They made it! After 52 days, 2,800 miles and 23 flat tires, seven cyclists, led by a team of ETA trustees and friends, arrived in Key West after traveling the entire length of the East Coast Greenway while helping to raise critically-needed funds to develop and sustain the ECG trail system. Click here to read the November 7 story in the Portland Press Herald.

• Other November news is summarized in the November 2004 E-mail news bulletin - click here to read

October 2004 News:

• John Andrews is will be making a pitch at the Maine Trails Conference seeking support for a bond to help support building trails - click here to view the handout he will be using on the bond proposal.

• ETA Leaders are also Leading East Coast Greenway efforts - Twelve cyclists, led by a team of ETA trustees and friends, are now traveling the entire length of the East Coast Greenway while helping to raise critically-needed funds to develop and sustain the ECG trail system. Click here to read more about the trip, and to follow their ride by reading their ride updates posted on various web sites.

September 2004 News:

• The Eastern Trail-a-Thon 8-Lighthouse Ride on September 18 was a huge success - many new members joined the Eastern Trail Alliance, and we raised some much-needed funds for the trail. 

• September 19 - the East Coast Greenway riders, on their way through southern Maine to Florida, rode the Eastern Trail, stopping to cross and admire our new bridge over the Scarborough Marsh. Click here to see pictures.

• Other September news is summarized in the September 2004 E-mail news bulletin - click here to read

AUGUST 2004 - August news is summarized in the August 2004 E-mail news bulletin - click here to read

JULY 2004 - Great pictures of the Scarborough Marsh Bridge construction are available on Steve Workman's web site - click here to have a look.

• Jim Gailey sent us the latest South Portland Greenbelt Trail Map - this map shows the entire trail accessible to all forms pedestrian/bicycle transportation. Click here to view this map.

• Other July news is summarized in the July 2004 E-mail news bulletin - click here to read

  - Click here to read a Scarborough Leader Story.

MAY 2004 - May ET news is summarized in the May 2004 E-mail news bulletin - click here to read

APRIL 2004 - New Bridge to Fill Key Link in Cycling Trail article by Deirdre Fleming which appeared April 11 in the Maine Sunday Telegram   - click here to read

APRIL 2004 - Many Deserve Accolades for Pioneering Eastern Trail - great editorial posted April 6 by the Portsmouth Herald  Other April 2004 news is summarized in the April 2004 E-mail news bulletin - click here to read

JANUARY 2004 news is summarized in the January 2004 E-mail news bulletin - click here to read

OCTOBER 2003 - Updated October news is contained in the October 2003 E-mail news bulletin - click here to read

OCTOBER 2003 - Gov. John Baldacci's 15-member ATV Task Force released its initial recommendations on October 6th, and announced it will hold four public forums this month in Presque Isle, Auburn, Bangor and Sanford to hear comments from the public.  The southern Maine forum will be held October 30, 6-8 p.m., in the  Memorial Gym, Sanford High School, 52 Sanford High School Blvd., Sanford. The recommendations are available on the ATV Task Force's website, printed copies can be requested by calling 207-287-8000.  After hearing from the public, the task force will complete its recommendations and send them to Gov. Baldacci by January 1.

OCTOBER 2003 - Another great day of community events along the Eastern Trail took place as part of the 2003 Eastern Trail Trail-A-Thon.  Click here to visit the page with information on what was planned and what took place.   NEW - a page of pictures from the Trail-A-Thon!

OCTOBER 2003 - A great article on the Eastern Trail appeared in the Maine Sunday Telegram on Sunday, October 12. Photographer Gregory Rec and reporter Deirdre Fleming spent a day cycling the 77-mile on-road Eastern Trail Click here to read their great article!

AUGUST 2003 - Maine Bicycle-Friendly Communities Conference: Making Maine More “Bicycle-Friendly” (sponsored by the Maine Dept. Of Transportation and the Bicycle Coalition of Maine) in Fairfield, Maine.  Click here for more information

AUGUST 2003 - Other August news is contained in the August 2003 E-mail news bulletin - click here to read

JULY 2003 - An article on funding for the Eastern Trail Management District appeared York County Journal Tribune on Tuesday, July 15, 2003. Click here to read this article.

JULY 2003 - Other July news is  in the July 2003 E-mail news bulletin - click here to read

JUNE 2003 - The Eastern Trail Alliance Celebrates its FIRST National Trails Day was June 7 - many memorable and fun NTD activities took place along the Eastern Trail, particularly in Old Orchard Beach and South Portland. 

• Click here for more information on what took place. 

• Click here to see pictures from the celebration in Old Orchard Beach

• Click here to see pictures from the celebration in South Portland 

JUNE 2003 - This Eastern Trail Web site is a winner!! - The ETA is a winner in the American Trails Website Contest. sponsored by the national American Trails organization.  American Trails launched the first-ever contest to seek out and recognize some of the best websites that are promoting trails and greenways. After receiving nominations of 88 trail-related websites, it chose winners in eleven categories.  The Eastern Trail web site received the national award for best "Local Trail Organization or Club site."  Read full results here.

MAY 2003 - "Cyclist to pedal to D.C. to boost East Coast trail" - Leonard "Chip" Jahnke, 65, of Friendship, left May 12 from Calais on a marathon bike ride that finishes in Washington, D.C. The ride promotes the completion of the East Coast Greenway, which will include 327 miles in Maine, and including the Eastern Trail.  About 29 of the 327 miles in Maine have been completed in Calais, Augusta, Hallowell, Brunswick, Yarmouth, Portland, South Portland and Saco.  Click here to see pictures of Chip as he arrived in Scarborough and Saco, and then leaving the state via the Kittery Bridge, each time greeted by ETA supporters.

MAY 2003 - See the May 2003 E-mail news bulletin - click here to read

APRIL 2003 - Jim Gailey, ETMD member and South Portland City Site Planner, sent pictures that show that construction is almost complete for the new section of trail that will eventually connect the existing terminous of the Greenbelt Walkway (at the southern end off Broadway Avenue) to the new recreation areas off Highland Road and near the Scarborough town line. Click here to view these pictures, or click here to follow the text and pictures of this great development from the start

APRIL 2003 - Steve Workman provides us with both a Fact sheet about the Eastern Trail and also a Fact sheet about the Eastern Trail Management District

MARCH 2003 - The Portland Press Herald published an article on the ET trail conference prior to its convening on March 29  - This workshop will explore many ideas about what the trail is and what it should be. Do you have a dream? Would you like help? 

MARCH 2003 - A brief but very notable mention of the Eastern Trail appeared in appeared in Down East Magazine, April 2003, in its Inside Maine column by Andrew Vietze.   Click here to view this article.

MARCH 2003 - An article entitled "Group says new trail needs help from city" appeared in the Biddeford Journal Tribune on March 7.   Click here to view this article.

FEBRUARY 2003 - An article entitled "Eastern Trail planners ready to cross Scarborough Marsh" appeared in the Portland Press Herald on February 26. 

FEBRUARY 2003 - Senators Promote Completion of "East Coast Greenway" - Nation's First Long-Distance Urban Trail. Click here to view this article.

DECEMBER 2002 -  Jim Gailey, ETMD member and South Portland City Site Planner, sent pictures for the new section of trail that will eventually connect the existing terminous of the Greenbelt Walkway (at the southern end off Broadway Avenue) to the new recreation areas off Highland Road and near the Scarborough town line. Click here to view these pictures

OCTOBER 2002 - The ETA Trail-A-Thon took place on October 5th - a great day that involved all of the ETA communities! Click here to see information on planned activities and routes.

SEPTEMBER 2002 - First Hiker to Transit the Eastern Trail Had to End His Walk Early.   Ed Talone, Trail Information Specialist for the American Hiking Society, planned to hiking the 440-mile Maine coastal segment of the East Coast Greenway.  Talone, who began his walk in Calais on August 30, learned on September 9 that his mother had passed away, so he immediately returned to Maryland. For more information on Ed's walk, check out the following: 1)  the Portland Press Herald article, or 2)  the ETA press release, 3) Tony Barrett's first report on Ed's progress along the trail, 4) Tony's second report (dated 9/9/02), and 4) Tony's final report (dated 9/11/02).

JULY 2002 - South Portland Leads ET Construction!   Not only is South Portland expanding the eastern part of the its Eastern Trail section, but according to Jim Gailey, City Site Planner, South Portland will upgrade the section near Bug light Park.  For recent pictures (9/19), click here, and for more details and a map see http://www.easterntrail.org/sopoext.html.

JULY 2002 - A meeting between ETA and the Granite State Gas Transmission on July 17-18, 2002 resulted in  much closer understanding of each other's perspectives. When five busy managers from GSGT (four from out of New England) spend two days talking with Eastern Trail supporters, we all have reason to be optimistic. Click here for more information.

JULY 2002 - The new On-Road Eastern Trail Signs are going up!  Click on the image to the right, or click here, for more information on these great signs!

MAY 2002 - The ET web site now has a secure on-line form that can be used, by new members to join the ETA, and by current members to renew.  With this secure page ETA dues can be paid safely on-line using a credit card! - click here to use this form.  In the near future the web site will also have other ET items for sale, including t-shirts, hats, and other items.

MAY 2002 - More news on South Portland's efforts to extend their Greenbelt Walkway - click here for this article.

APRIL 2002: Lots of new stuff going on:

ET Construction - 

• 2003 Construction to cross Scarborough Marsh is moving forward.  Steve Workman predicts that design engineering bids for will be requested in May.  

• 2004-2005 Construction plans are developing.  The proposed section would connect Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford with Cummings Market on Alfred Road in West Kennebunk.  This 2004-2005 project would include a bridge over the Maine Turnpike just east of the Kennebunk rest area.

• South Portland Construction - South Portland that started its Greenbelt over 10 years ago is adding another two plus miles to connect Broadway to Highland Avenue almost to the Scarborough town line. Click here to see a picture.

Columbia Gas Pilot Project -  Columbia Gas, operator of Granite State Gas Transmission, has informed us that its management would like to plan a Pilot Project with us to begin construction on some of the corridor that it owns.  This would be the first construction on a GSGT-owned section of the corridor.  We have requested that the section coincide with proposed 2004-2005 constructions.  A Pilot Project would debug the process of working together.  Many details must be worked out, but this is exciting and promising progress. 

ETA slide show - Sally Nason hosted the ET slide show at Maine Medical Center on 20 March.  Jean Leach is hosting the show at the Saco Historical Society on Tuesday 21 May in Saco's Dyer Library at 7:30 P.M.   The public is welcome.  If your organization is interested in hosting the show, send e-mail to John Andrews.

February - April 2002: Check out an article entitled ATVs tear up trails in Saco, which appeared in the Biddeford-Saco Journal Tribune on January 31, 2002. where John Andrews is interviewed about this problem. A second, a more hopeful article about an ATV club keeping square with landowners, was posted in April.

December 2001: Easement News -  In Summer 2001, Columbia Gas Transmission Company (TCO), Charleston, WV accepted responsibility for managing the Granite State Gas pipeline and corridor.  On November 27-28, TCO's Land Services Manager Cheryl Davis visited Maine with four other TCO managers.  They toured the corridor and met most of the ETA and ETMD Trustees.  They met town officials, including 7 of the 12 ET-corridor town managers.  Governor King, Senators Snowe and Collins, and Congressman Allan were not available, but each of them sent representatives with their messages of personal support.  TCO manages 19,000 miles of gas transmission lines from Texas to Maine.  Columbia has trails along some of its corridors.  During this first meeting, we identified easement, management and construction issues needing more work.  We are deeply appreciative that these busy TCO managers took two days to visit Maine and its ET supporters.  We look forward to a successful long-term relationship. (Click here for a more detailed report on the visit)

October 2001: We revealed a new web page on SHARING THE CORRIDOR:  UTILITY COMPANIES AND THE EASTERN TRAIL ALLIANCE AS STRONG PARTNERS. This page describes the work ETA is doing to develop easement agreements with various natural gas and other utilities which share the Eastern Trail Corridor.

October 2001: The weekly interview with John Andrews, reposted from the South Portland Sentry, October 19, 2001, where John talks about the Eastern Trail and how it helps democracy. 

October 2001 - John Andrews reported few highlights from his trip to the St. Louis Rails-to-Trails Conservancy convention in St. Louis. He learned a lot that can help build a happy Eastern Trail - click here to read his report (PDF File format - see library page for more info on this format.

September 2001:  The Eastern Trail Alliance joined the Keep Maine Moving Coalition to help get the MDOT bond passed with its $250K for the Eastern Trail. 

July 4, 2001:  Arundel & Kennebunk each voted to join the ETMD at their June town meetings. That makes it 12 of 12  Earlier, N. Berwick voted to join at its meeting is Saturday April 28. Congratulations to Kate Albert, Steve Workman and the other ETA government subcommittee members for crafting the supportable agreement. This is awesome, historic, and truly unpredictable success.

Click here to see a copy of the agreement.  This agreement, which the ETA's Governmental Subcommittee has been working on since August 1999, establishes the new EMTD organization to oversee and coordinate the construction and operation of the Eastern Trail. Three municipal members, plus the Eastern Trail Alliance, are necessary for the new District to begin its operations.

June 2001: AmeriCorps announced a trail grant to Saco Public Works and Saco Bay Trails to construct trails in Saco this summer. One of the trails will connect the ET corridor at Patoine Road in OOB to Rt 1 in Saco. With a 400-foot jog, this spur trail will continue across Rt. 1 to the new Saco Industrial Park. The land on both sides of Rt. 1 is either owned by the City or Saco or the City has existing easements. Work will begin in about 4 weeks with a crew of between 12 and 18 unpaid, volunteer, college students from around the US.