Archived News

By Joe Yuhas

[Note: This article appeared in the Spring 2014 Newsletter. The full newsletter can be viewed in this pdf document]

The Southern ETA group has gained gratifying strength and numbers since last summer’s community displays and presentations. Those activities were designed to spread the word of the Eastern Trail and increase support at the grass roots level. Our awareness program showcased the far reaching benefits of the existing trail, as well as the benefits that will follow as the off road trail is extended to and through Wells, the Berwicks, Eliot and Kittery to connect with NH at the Memorial Bridge.

Since fall, SETA members have been meeting on a regular basis to explore and increase the effectiveness of our awareness program. Many new faces have been added to the group, increasing the pool of talent and imaginative ideas to accomplish our goals.

Ann Kendall came up with the idea of our sponsoring a trail ride which would follow the on road section of the ET (also known as U. S. Bicycle Route One). For the last few months we have been researching that project, developing possible routes, checking with town officials and, with the help of some of the Maine Lighthouse Ride’s experienced leaders, studying the details that have made that ride so successful.

After hitting a roadblock on our initial choice of date for the event, we decided that we would instead initiate a series of smaller monthly rides over the summer. Rather than try to bring off a major trail ride with all it’s details in a short period of time to plan and execute it, we’d work up to that project.

The monthly rides will also give us a chance to become familiar with the route in hopes that we will be ready to host the Spring on the Trail next year.

In Ann’s words, “We have decided to start slowly to build awareness and interest in the Eastern Trail by having a series of rides — Discovering the Eastern Trail — to be offered once a month for groups of about 20 riders.” The first ride is planned for June 14th from Kittery to Vaughn Woods and could return along the scenic River Rd.

Each ride will continue up the Eastern Trail with rides on the second Saturday of each month until we get to the off-road section at the Kennebunk Elementary School.

The rides will be around 20 miles in length, allowing for travel at a moderate pace, emphasizing safety and the pleasure of bicycling along the trail. We plan to stop occasionally at points of interest and concentrate on features of local historical or natural significance. Each ride will have a leader, a sweeper and a support vehicle to assist with breakdowns if necessary.

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By Joe Yuhas

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

According to Peggy Belanger RN, who is Cancer Care Coordinator and Oncology Nurse Navigator at Southern Maine Medical Center (SMMC), access to the Eastern Trail contributes greatly to the programs that she administers. The mere fact that the trail is in such close proximity to the medical center campus encourages creativity and innovation in programing for patients.

Peggy described “Walk Away From Cancer,” which utilizes the trail for the exercise component of the program. This program was specifically designed for both recently diagnosed patients and patients currently in treatment to provide them with the opportunity to develop a sustained regimen of beneficial exercise. The program meets two times a week for six weeks, and in addition to exercise it has educational and a nutritional components and serves as a support group. Groups meet in the spring and fall and walk the trail at their own pace in small groups that facilitate sharing and support, thus fostering a very important social contribution to recovery.

With the trail head at the rear of the SMMC parking lot, the participants can conveniently walk in a safe shaded area and enjoy fresh air and the ET’s natural environment. By eliminating barriers to participation in exercise, patients experience success, which in turn promotes ongoing participation and leads to continuing lifelong healthy habits. The program, now completing its first year, was partially funded by a grant from the Maine Cancer Foundation. Few hospitals are sited in such a favorable location and that factor must have been a positive influence to award the grant to SMMC.

For three years now the SMMC “Be Healthy” 5K Run/Walk has utilized the ET, and its proceeds have helped support SMMC’s Center for Breast Care. Hosting this community event is a natural, and logistics are simplified with the convenient access to the ET at the rear of the campus. The event also dovetails nicely with the hospital’s mission of encouraging health and fitness in its patients, employees and the community in general.

In a recent survey, nearly one third of the employees based at the medical center’s Biddeford location reported using the Eastern Trail for exercise and recreation, with walking and cycling the two most frequent uses. The trail extending to Kennebunk also provides an opportunity for many to use it as a commuting route to work, providing both economic and health benefits while reducing carbon emissions to the atmosphere.

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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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