Greenway idea gathers steam

by DAVID CONNERTY-MARIN, Portland Press Herald Writer

Greenway idea gathers steam
by DAVID CONNERTY-MARIN, Portland Press Herald Writer

Less than four years ago, John Andrews and three fellow retirees dreamed up the idea of connecting Biddeford, Saco, Old Orchard Beach and the Scarborough Marsh with a bicycle-pedestrian path that would follow the abandoned Eastern Line railroad. 

Within a year, they were talking about a 55-mile stretch from Portsmouth, N.H., to South Portland. Now their Eastern Trail is part of the East Coast Greenway, the plan for a continuous off-road bicycle and pedestrian path that will connect Calais to Key West, Fla.

The quick acceptance of the concept in Maine was illustrated last month when state officials awarded $8 million in bicycle and pedestrian projects. 

"(Two years ago) we hardly even knew about the Greenway," said John Balicki, the state's bicycle and pedestrian coordinator. Now the Greenway is an established vision in states all along the East Coast. Supporters say 80 percent of the trail could be completed by 2010.

The Greenway would run along abandoned rail beds and other corridors, connecting cities and passing through natural spaces in between.

"The East Coast Greenway as a vision has been around since 1991, but only in the last four years did it go from a paper vision to being a reality on the ground," said Sue Ellen Bordwell of Yarmouth. She is the Maine representative to the East Coast Greenway Alliance.

About 9 percent of the Greenway exists now, Bordwell said. To connect the pieces, many sections of road have been designated as "on-road" portions of the trail system.

The 14 new projects in Maine come in bite-sized pieces -- one-third of a mile along the Androscoggin River in Auburn, 2.6 miles in Calais, three-quarters of a mile in South Portland by Turner's Island.

Some of the money goes to studying other bike paths. The biggest chunk, just over $1 million, goes to the Eastern Trail -- the Kittery-to-South Portland section of the Greenway conceived by Andrews and his friends. An alliance of state and local officials and citizen organizations will decide where along that 50-mile stretch to spend the money. Contenders include the section crossing the Scarborough Marsh, a section in Old Orchard Beach, and a path from Arundel to Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford.

While the 14 projects all contribute to filling in pieces of the 630-mile section of Greenway in Maine, Balicki said that was not the primary goal. 

"We invested mostly in urban projects, shared-use paths that help people get around their villages and urban areas," he said. "We feel it's a good investment of our money, bringing our projects to where people live."

Experience shows most of the people who use the trails live in the same town, which explains Balicki's focus on local projects rather than the lengthy trail. Becka Roolf of Portland, a director of the Alliance for Transportation Choice, said she sees the off-road paths as complements to having "walkable and bicyclable city streets."

Her group has advocated for bike lanes and changes that make crossing busy roads easier for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Bordwell said as soon as people start using a new bike path, they want it extended. She points to the tremendous success of the Androscoggin River bike path in Brunswick, which has earned state and national recognition for its design and popularity. The path ends abruptly at Cook's Corner, leaving bicyclists with no safe route to Bath.

The state's two-year list of projects includes money to study extending the Brunswick trail to Bath, eight miles away. Another project would build a 0.9-mile stretch of the Paper Mill Road Trail in Lisbon to connect different urban areas at a cost of $96,000. In Unity, $253,500 will pay for a three-quarter mile trail connecting Unity College with the village of Unity.

When enough of the pieces are put together, some people will use the Greenway for commuting long distances, Balicki predicted. "I used to live in Saco and work in South Portland," Balicki said. "It just wasn't something I thought of. To find safe roads you would have to go so far out of your way, there just isn't much appeal."

David Connerty-Marin can be contacted by email or at 791-6325