Archived News

by Bob LaNigra

[Note: This article appeared in the Late Fall 2013 Newsletter. The full newsletter can be viewed in this pdf document]

What is all that construction going on in Scarborough??

You may have noticed considerable evidence of construction at the Pine Point Road and Black Point Road intersections with the ET. I talked with the Scarborough Town Planner, Dan Bacon, and learned that the town has funded upwards of $400,000 for construction at those crucial points to improve traffic flow and, more important, to ensure the safety of pedestrians and bikers using the Eastern Trail.

A new sidewalk is being installed along Black Point Road, from Route1 to Eastern Road, which is the road leading to the trail. The crosswalk is being built to better connect the Eastern Trail with businesses at Oak Hill and the schools along Route 114. This concrete sidewalk will be six-feet wide, which is wider than normal, to accommodate both pedestrians and bikers. A flashing light will be installed at the intersection of Black Point Road and Eastern Road, aiming to slow motorist down for safer crossing of Black Point Road. As another safety measure, street lighting will be improved to make pedestrians and bicyclists more visible. Finally, new curbing and landscaping will be installed.

Similar projects are happening along Pine Point Road: upgrades to the sidewalk from Dunstan corner at Route 1, and installation of a flashing light at the Pine Point intersection of the trail. An asphalt apron has already been installed on the trail on either side of Pine Point Road. In
addition, the town took advantage of this construction work to increase the bollard widths at the south portion of the trail from 32 and 37 inch widths to approximately 40 inch width to accommodate adaptive bikes, baby carriages and wheel chairs.

Both projects should be completed by the end of November or early December.

As considerable as these projects are, Scarborough is investing still more time and energy in a grander addition to the trail. Members of the town have been working with the MDOT on a major project to complete the Eastern Trail within its town boundaries by closing the .8 mile gap from the Nonesuch River (at the end of Eastern Road) to the Wainwright Recreation area in South Portland. The engineering design should be completed by the end of this year. Then the next big challenge will be to get funding to construct the project, which may take several more years. The town recently hosted a presentation on the preliminary design for this section of trail. A video from the meeting is available on Scarborough’s website.

Thank you, Town of Scarborough, for your foresight and for continuing to invest in the future of the Eastern Trail. Clearly, the town believes in the benefits of the trail and is willing to support that belief with investments in money and resources.

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By Marianne Goodine, Treasurer, Eastern Trail Management District

[Note: This article appeared in the Late Fall 2013 Newsletter. The full newsletter can be viewed in this pdf document]

With the Eastern Trail making its way southward, a very energetic group of trail enthusiasts has been meeting monthly in Wells to collaborate on ways to continue the trail. This group represents the Southern Eastern Trail Alliance (SETA) and consists of representatives from Wells, North Berwick, York, Kittery, and South Berwick.

The group is focused on ideas for fundraising and getting more exposure for the trail. During the summer of 2013 we set up an informational booth at local events such as the Kittery Block Party, Senior Expo in Kennebunk, Wells HarborFest , and the Millfield Festival in North Berwick. We are currently seeking interested individuals to become members of the Eastern Trail Alliance.

The 20+ miles of completed trail has been used by countless numbers of walkers, hikers, bikers, equestrians and proves to be a very safe route for its users and a valuable asset to each community that it passes through. So far the greatest obstacle of the trail was building the bridge over the turnpike in Kennebunk. Many said it wouldn’t happen and yet it did.

The Towns of Kennebunk and Wells recently applied for a Transportation Enhancement grant through the Maine Department of Transportation for the design and engineering phase of the trail. Unfortunately, because of State budget cuts, the application was denied, creating another road block in our efforts to continue the trail south. This setback has made it all the more important for us to seek other alternatives for funding, which the SETA group is currently investigating.

I and many other citizens of southern York County communities strongly support efforts to bring the trail south. It is a tremendous asset and a safe route for all to enjoy whether you’re walking, biking, running, jogging, or just enjoying a morning, afternoon or evening stroll. Every dollar spent will give back so much more. Let’s all put on our thinking caps and find ways to continue the trail southward to the New Hampshire boarder, including sources of alternative funding for trail development.

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By ETA President Bob Hamblen

[Note: This article appeared in the Late Fall 2013 Newsletter. The full newsletter can be viewed in this pdf document]

In the next to last week of October I hit the jackpot. No trip to Foxwoods, or Oxford for that matter, involved. And I haven’t bought a Powerball ticket … uh, ever. Instead, I had the opportunity to chat about the Eastern Trail at three separate events, and this wasn’t a case of the ETA begging for a chance to set up a table so we could try to sell folks on the Trail.

Nope, the ETA was actually invited to attend three meetings and participate in panel discussions; these groups really wanted to hear about the Trail, even though, per a show of hands at the latter two events, the majority of attendees were already familiar with the ET.

On October 22 the second quarterly meeting of the York County Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee convened, the brainchild of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine and Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission (formerly Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission). There’s a lot happening on the bike and ped scene, and those who created the committee recognize the value of sharing experiences. So they invited three of us to offer input on the state of trails: Alix Hopkins, former executive director of Portland Trails, author and community activist, related progress to date on the Biddeford River Walk, including a planned pedestrian bridge that would span the Saco River in the Biddeford and Saco Historic Mills District. MaryAnn Conroy has just assumed the director’s role at the Kennebunk public works department, and is an ET veteran of sorts via her previous employment with the Town of Old Orchard Beach. The three of us and all attendees compared notes about funding.

The YCBPC meets quarterly, next time in Sanford to hear about that city’s ambitious trails plan. All welcome; contact Myranda McGowan (mmcgowan@smrpc.org) for more information.

Next afternoon Sustain Southern Maine hosted an information-sharing session on growing trail accessibility. Professor Jack Kartez explained the forum this way: “There is widespread consensus among both health and development experts that ready access to non-motorized trails linking people to the landscape they live in provides benefits and amenities needed for a successful area-wide economy attractive to a wide variety of people.”

This gathering, the seventh in a series that SSM hosts on topics that have included climate change, housing, energy, and locally grown foods, Trails and a Livable Southern Maine, included Jim Tasse of the BCM who spoke on the growing popularity of single-track bike trails, Steve Engle of the Maine Center for Community GIS, who maintains the Maine Trail Finder website, and Matt Craig of the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership. Jack and Kara Wooldrik, Executive Director of Portland Trails, hosted the panel discussion which examined how regional trails such as the ET are spawning local trails, creating a network of sustainable transportation and fitness options.

The third event of the week convened on the Eastern Trail in Kennebunk. Bob Bowker, ET vice president and Tim Cote, the project engineer for the Biddeford to Kennebunk section of the Trail, hosted members of the Maine chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers for a tour on bike and foot. The group later convened for its dinner meeting in Scarborough, and listened to trail talk from Tim and co-HNTB employee Greg Blake, Nancy Grant of the BCM, Dan Stewart of Maine DOT, and me. Topics included funding options for trails (limited), current challenges to extending trails in Maine, and MDOT’s role.

While many of us look to our ‘leaders’ in Augusta and Washington and can only shake our heads, you can take encouragement from the fact that lots of people out there ‘get it,’ and are actively learning from and sharing the best of what is happening locally and regionally. We’re pleased that the ET is very much in the mix.

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The Scarborough Leader, by Michael Kelley Staff Writer

SCARBOROUGH — A scenic route connecting the Piscataqua River and Casco Bay is one step closer to being completed.

Last week Scarborough Town Planner Dan Bacon and representatives from the Eastern Trail Alliance unveiled a preliminary plan to extend the Eastern Trail in Scarborough to the Wainwright Recreation Complex, the beginning of South Portland’s Greenbelt Walkway.

The Greenbelt Walkway is a 5.7-mile trail that runs from the Scarborough/South Portland town line to Portland Breakwater Lighthouse in Bug Light Park. The Eastern Trail starts near Route 103 in Kittery and ends at the Nonesuch River in Scarborough.

The proposed 1-mile trail would rely heavily on Central Maine Power corridors to extend toward Pleasant Hill Road, across the Pan-Am railroad line and past the pond behind Pond Cove drive before crossing into South Portland and ending at the Wainwright complex.

Bacon said extending the Eastern Trail into South Portland has been a longtime goal for town and Eastern Trail officials. Doing so has not been an easy task.

“It’s a complicated area to spread a trail through, but it is a high priority for the town and a very high priority for the region,” Bacon said.

Bob Bowker, vice president of the Eastern Trail Alliance, said the trail has come a long way since it was first envisioned 15 years ago as a place for people to walk, bike and run while enjoying nature.

Since then the trail has been expanded, including a section between Biddeford and Kennebunk in 2010 and Saco and Old Orchard Beach in 2011.

Click here to read the full story online

Here are stwo other local news reports on the Eastern Trail project in Scarborough:

• Plans for new Maine Turnpike exit, Eastern Trail link, still lack funding – The Forecaster
• Eastern Trail expansion plan reviewed – So. Portland/Cape Elizabeth Sentry

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The Forecaster, Thursday, November 14, 2013 at 9:20 am

SCARBOROUGH — Steps to improve highway transportation and off-road recreation were taken last week by town officials, but the end results could be years away.

On Nov. 6, councilors unanimously endorsed a preliminary report justifying a new Maine Turnpike exit near mile 40, at the Saco-Scarborough boundary.

Two days before that, Town Planner Dan Bacon hosted a public meeting outlining a proposed connection for the Eastern Trail, from the east bank of the Nonesuch River to the South Portland Greenbelt at the Wainwright Athletic Fields.

[Note: Details about the discussion of the turnpike study are not shown here – read the full online story for these details.]

Eastern Trail

The DOT also funded the $150,000 study on how to complete about a mile of the Eastern Trail, a project that would require at least two bridges and carry a preliminary estimated cost of $3 million to $3.5 million.

“It is incredibly complex … but a very high priority for the town and the region,” Bacon said.

The Eastern Trail extends from Kittery to Bug Light Park in South Portland, with few gaps. One large gap exists at the Saco River between Saco and Biddeford.The trail extends to the Nonesuch River in Scarborough, but the official marked route to South Portland follows Black Point Road to Highland Avenue to Gary L. Maietta Parkway.

Dan Cote, a project engineer with the Westbrook office of HNTB Corp., said the trail extension from the river would mostly use a Central Maine Power Co. right of way, but would require a 22.5-foot-tall bridge over the Pan Am Railways tracks.

Bacon estimated the bridge could cost $750,000.

The trail is largely built along old Eastern Railroad rail beds. Granite supports for the old bridge over the Nonesuch River are sturdy enough to hold a new prefabricated bridge that Cote said might look like the one crossing Scarborough Marsh.

“It is by far the most challenging trail section we have been engaged with,” Cote said of the last connection in Scarborough.

Once across Pleasant Hill Road, the proposed trail route would skirt the east side of Prout’s Pond on land owned by the Maine Turnpike Authority.

Bacon said the work depends on funding.

“It could be one year, it could be two or three, given the lack of transportation funding there is right now,” he said.

 Read the full online story here

Here are two other local news reports on the Eastern Trail project in Scarborough:

• Another link in Eastern Trail identified – Scarborough Leader
• Eastern Trail expansion plan reviewed – So. Portland/Cape Elizabeth Sentry

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By Michael Kelley, Staff Writer

SCARBOROUGH – A scenic route connecting the Piscataqua River and Casco Bay is one step closer to being completed.

Last week Scarborough Town Planner Dan Bacon and representatives from the Eastern Trail Alliance unveiled a preliminary plan to extend the Eastern Trail in Scarborough to the Wainwright Recreation Complex, the beginning of South Portland’s Greenbelt Walkway.

The Greenbelt Walkway is a 5.7-mile trail that runs from the Scarborough/South Portland town line to Portland Breakwater Lighthouse in Bug Light Park. The Eastern Trail starts near Route 103 in Kittery and ends at the Nonesuch River in Scarborough.

The proposed 1-mile trail would rely heavily on Central Maine Power corridors to extend toward Pleasant Hill Road, across the Pan-Am railroad line and past the pond behind Pond Cove drive before crossing into South Portland and ending at the Wainwright complex.

Bacon said extending the Eastern Trail into South Portland has been a longtime goal for town and Eastern Trail officials. Doing so has not been an easy task.

“It’s a complicated area to spread a trail through, but it is a high priority for the town and a very high priority for the region,” Bacon said.

Bob Bowker, vice president of the Eastern Trail Alliance, said the trail has come a long way since it was first envisioned 15 years ago as a place for people to walk, bike and run while enjoying nature. Since then the trail has been expanded, including a section between Biddeford and Kennebunk in 2010 and Saco and Old Orchard Beach in 2011.

“In 15 years there has been a lot accomplished with the Eastern Trail,” Bowker said. “Despite the fact we have over 20 miles of trails available, these projects left some gaps.”

Read the Whole Story Online

 Here are two other local news reports on the Eastern Trail project in Scarborough:

• Another link in Eastern Trail identified – Scarborough Leader
• Plans for new Maine Turnpike exit, Eastern Trail link, still lack funding – The Forecaster

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