Calais project
could become national model
BY KATHERINE CASSIDY OF
THE NEWS STAFF
MACHIAS —
The multiyear task of converting the Calals Branch railbed
corridor to a multiuse trail between Ellsworth in
Hancock Coun- Down East
ty and Pembroke in Washington County could become a national pilot project
if federal funds are used.
That was the announcement on Tuesday by David Cole, the Maine
Department of Transportation commissioner, to a group of 33 state employees,
area selectmen and planners, law enforcement representatives and recreation-minded
residents.
Fifteen years after the unused railbed was first proposed
as a trail, and one month after Gov. John Baldacci endorsed the Idea,
the DOT’s advisory planning committee convened for the first time to tackle
exactly how to make that happen.
Snowmobilers and ATV-users in both Hancock and Washington
counties have been calling for the railbed’s conversion for years. But
federal funds have never been used for a trail that mixes ATVs with hikers,
cyclists and equestrians.
This trail, however, could be different.
“Federal money has historically not been available for trails
that allow ATVs,” Cole told the group gathered at the University of Maine
at Machias.
“But they [federal planners] are receptive to the idea of
this trail being a pilot project, a first in the country provided it is
done safely, and Is consistently monitored.”
Cole wants the committee to meet every two weeks until Thanksgiving
to prepare a “viable business plan” for the Legislature to consider starting
in January.
Cole wouldn’t put a dollar figure on the 87-mile project,
other than saying it would cost
“about $70,000 per mile” to take up the steel tracks and ties.
“Maybe that’s six or seven million dollars, but you know
it would end up more,” Cole said. “We are looking for a plan that suggests
not just how to fund a trail, but how to manage and maintain
it, too.”
A high priority —
voiced last month in Machias by Baldacci during his announcement
— would be preserving the corridor
for future rail use, If the interest in freight or passenger
service ever returns Down East. Meanwhile, the trail could
accommodate both ATVs and nonmotored walkers, birders,
cyclists and horse riders. In winter, shared use would make the trail
available for both cross country skiers and snowmobilers.
Rep. Ed Dugay, D-Cherryfield, noted that state bond money
could be sought to finance the trail, if
it’s determined that the use of federal funds would restrict ATV users
on the trail, after all.
“Is there a plan to protect the snowmobilers and ATVs,
If we can’t use the federal money?” Dugay asked.
Regardless of whether the trail is supported by state or
federal money, Cole said, safety
needs to be considered !oremost. That, and the potential
economic gain that the state, municipalities and the region could all
share in.
“It’s up to this group to decide If we want to be a pilot
project with the federal funds or not,” Cole said. “If the federal funding
turns out to be too restrictive, then we can do state bond ftmcls.
“But anyone putting money Into this wants to see that it
provides some economic return.”
Several topics need to be tackled before the trail plan
is rolled out to both the Legislature and the public. Broadly, they
are the trail’s management, maintenance and design, plus DOT’s outreach
to the general puhti and the municipalities along the way.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO
BY KATHERINE CASSIDY
Stephanie Clement (right) of Friends of Acadia
and Polly Ceckier (center) of Hancock listen to Michele Gagnon
(left), city planner for Ellsworth,
at a Maine Department of Transportation meeting In Machais to discuss
turning 87 miles of the unused Calais Branch railway into a trail between
Ellsworth andPembroke.