Panel endorses a 26-mile path for bicycles and pedestrians along an unused rail corridor
| Steve Collins, Sun Journal |
The state’s Portland to Auburn Rail Use Advisory Council agreed this month to support the creation of a bicycle and pedestrian trail along a 26.5-mile, state-owned rail corridor between the two cities.
Seven of the 15 members of the panel recommended removing the tracks to create the trail while five others supported leaving the tracks in place for possible future use and adding a trail beside them.
It’s a decision hailed by some and denounced by others.
The Maine Rail Transit Coalition said the vote to tear out the tracks for a paved recreational trail “will go down in infamy.”
But the Casco Bay Trail Alliance, which pushed for the outcome, called it a “very important development in the progress toward an off-road trail connecting Portland, Lewiston and Brunswick.”
Before anything can be done to move forward with the proposed trail along the inactive rail line, the transportation commissioner must get legislative approval. Keep reading
— The Advisory Council’s draft report can be found at this link. — Eds.
