Monthly: July 2025

A small gathering of invited guests was held on Thursday, July 24, 2025 to officially break ground on the Close the Gap project, and to formally recognize the commitment, patience, and perseverance of critical partners and major donors.

“Today’s groundbreaking isn’t just about building a trail segment that will close a critical gap in the Eastern Trail,” said Chelsey Berlin, Executive Director of the Eastern Trail Alliance (ETA) and Eastern Trail Management District (ETMD). “It is about vision, perseverance, and patience.”

“This new segment will unlock the ability to safely commute by bicycle from communities like Saco and Scarborough all the way to Portland,” said Berlin. “It will support healthier lifestyles, foster economic development, and carry forward the remarkable legacy of our founder John Andrews—whose vision and unwavering commitment to the Eastern Trail laid the foundation for everything we’re building today.”

Carole Brush, former Executive Director of the ETA and ETMD, added, “While John Andrews is no longer physically with us, I’m sure he is celebrating right now.”

Brush continued to outline the tremendous challenges this project confronted and overcame over the course of its planning. This project took a remarkable effort over more than a decade to come to fruition. “Every challenge we faced reminded us that trails don’t just appear. They’re built on collaboration, sustained effort and investment, and a shared belief in the transformative power of trail to bring people and communities together,” noted Berlin.

Representatives of key stakeholders were recognized and present, including:

• Federal, municipal and state partners— including the Town of Scarborough, the City of South Portland, and the Maine Department of Transportation;
• Many board members—past and present—of both the ETA and the Eastern Trail Maintenance District (ETMD);
• Partners such as the East Coast Greenway and the Bicycle Coalition of Maine;
• ETA staff, volunteers, donors, and advocates, past and present—whose time, talents, and resources helped pave the way, both literally and figuratively, to today – our thanks to each and every one of you!

Site Walk to View Trail Under Construction

While there are so many donors to thanks for making this project possible, several key contributions were recognized, including by the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System (PACTS), Town & Country Federal Credit Union, the Caiazzo Family, the Phillip Thompson Family, the Avangrid Foundation, IDEXX, the Quimby Family Foundation, the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, WEX, and the Morton-Kelly Charitable Trust.

We are thrilled construction is underway and especially grateful to our partners at the Town of Scarborough, the local project administrator, for their ongoing support and efforts. Construction updates will be posted here.

Click here to get periodic email updates from the Eastern Trail Alliance to stay informed about upcoming events, trail projects and conditions, and more.

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD | Sat, July 12, 2025

Jul. 12—SCARBOROUGH — On the surface, the construction of just over a mile and a half’s worth of trail may not sound like a huge deal for southern Maine. You could also assume a project of that length would be straightforward.

But you’d be sorely mistaken — at least when it comes to the “Close the Gap” project on the Eastern Trail, a venture over a decade in the making that conservationists, transportation experts, and municipal and state officials all believe will have a profound regional impact.

After years of delays caused by everything from difficulty securing easements to a global pandemic, the 1.6-mile project is — at last — starting to take shape, with construction having begun in June.

When the Eastern Trail Alliance launched its first fundraising campaign, it believed the gap could be closed by 2017, at a cost of $4.1 million. If all goes smoothly from here, it will be just 10 years behind schedule and nearly $3 million over budget.

Just getting to this point has required years of determination, patience and perseverance.

“This project is a huge win not only for Scarborough and South Portland, but for the entire region,” said Joshua Reny, South Portland assistant city manager. “The perseverance of all of the stakeholders, partners and donors who brought the project to this critical point deserves acknowledgment.”

THE SPINE

The Eastern Trail, part of U.S. Bike Route 1, runs roughly 65 miles from South Portland to Kittery. While a mere 1.6 miles of fresh trail is being blazed in Scarborough, it will solidify a roughly 16-mile off-road connection between Bug Light Park in South Portland and downtown Saco.

The new section of trail is expected to be completed by November 2027.

“One of the biggest challenges right now for anyone using active transportation is north-south connectivity and doing it in a safe way,” said Chris Chop, transportation director for the Greater Portland Council of Governments. “This project, closing the gap, creates a continuous off-road network that connects recreational areas, downtowns and schools.”

Closing the gap is “a huge deal,” said Chop, who likened the Eastern Trail to U.S. Route 1 for off-road transportation.

In Scarborough, the northern, off-road segment of the Eastern Trail currently ends at the Nonesuch River, where a bridge is being constructed to begin filling the 1.6-mile gap. From there, the new portion of the trail will turn south, then curve east and across some railroad tracks. As it heads east, the path will stretch through a power corridor until it runs into Pleasant Hill Road, where a crosswalk with flashing pedestrian signals will be installed.

From Pleasant Hill Road, the trail will loop around Prouts Pond and north to the Wainwright Sports Complex in South Portland. Wainwright provides a connection to the Greenbelt multiuse path, which extends to Bug Light Park.

Dakota Hewlett, the Maine Department of Transportation’s active transportation planner, described the trail as “the spine for biking and walking” in the region.

“From that spine, municipalities are able to connect to that, into neighborhoods or business areas, downtowns, beaches — all those destinations we can think of in southern Maine,” Hewlett said.

The new link could be “a real game-changer,” said Scott Kunkler, the Scarborough Land Trust’s conservation director.

“The connection goes beyond just recreation,” he said. “It could encourage more people to choose active transportation options for daily commutes or errands, helping to reduce reliance on vehicles.”

FINDING THE TRAILHEAD

It’s difficult to pinpoint when the Close the Gap project officially came to be.

It can be traced to the early 2000s, when the idea first gained traction, or to 2012, when the first fundraising campaign was launched, or to 2017, when formal plans began to take shape.

Read the entire article online here

Allison Carrier | Portland Press Herald | July 11, 2025

Construction is officially underway on the long-anticipated Close the Gap project in Scarborough. In partnership with the town of Scarborough, Eastern Trail Alliance and the MaineDOT, the project will add 1.6 miles of off-road trail to the Eastern Trail, connecting the trail segment off Eastern Road to the northern trail segment near the Wainwright Sports Complex in South Portland.

The new segment will eliminate a key on-road gap, improving safety and accessibility for trail users. The completion of a 1.6 mile “gap” in trail will provide 16 miles of continuous off-road connection from South Portland’s Bug Light to downtown Saco.

The project is the result of several years of work to raise the necessary funds, complete the project design, align stakeholders, and acquire the necessary permits and land rights. It went out to bid in spring 2025 and construction began in June.

Plans for the Eastern Trail first began in 1998, when a group now called the Eastern Trail Alliance held its first public meeting to make a trail connect Scarborough and Saco. Other major milestones were the steel footbridge over Scarborough Marsh that was installed in November 2004, South Portland Greenbelt completed in 2005, and trail extensions to Kennebunk in 2010-2011.

The Close the Gap fundraising campaign began in 2012 with gradual momentum over the past 13 years.

The construction project will be completed in phases…….

Read the full article online here.