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By Michael Kelley Staff Writer

With Army Corps of Engineers and Maine Department of Environmental Protection approval in hand, it’s a “critical year” for a long-term project to connect the Eastern Trail between the Nonesuch River in Scarborough and the Wainwright Farm Recreation Complex in South Portland.

So says Scarborough Town Planner Dan Bacon.

“Completing this corridor would finally connect Scarborough, Old Orchard Beach, Saco and points south all the way to South Portland and Portland,” Bacon said at a town council workshop last week.

Although only 1.6 miles long, making the connection between the two communities has been, according to Scarborough Town Manager Tom Hall, a “daunting task,” in part because it requires building bridges over the Nonesuch River and Pan Am Railways tracks.

Bacon said finding a connection that works “without bumping into” private property has been challenging. Thus the proposed trail alignment follows a Central Maine Power corridor by Pleasant Hill Road before heading toward Prout’s Pond toward South Portland and eventually into the Wainwright complex. An alignment that passed by the pond prior to joining Highland Avenue and Gary L. Maietta Way was ultimately scrapped because of safety concerns for trail users.

The challenge at hand now is funding the roughly $3 million project, including the costs of the Nonesuch River Bridge ($75,000+) and railroad bridge ($700,000 to $1 million). The northern stretch – approximately 4,200 feet from Wainwright to Pleasant Hill Road – has been funded thanks to a grant from Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System (PACTS) and local shares from Scarborough and South Portland. Funding for the southern half, which includes the two bridges, is still up in the air, but PACTS and the Maine Department of Transportation (DOT) have promised to fund sizable shares.

“The DOT sees this as the most important bike/ped project in the state right now and has dedicated almost half of the funding because of that feeling,” Bacon said.

The DOT has committed $1.5 million to the project and PACTS has committed another $650,000. The local share of the project from Scarborough and South Portland would be $216,000, meaning another $700,000 would have to be raised from other funding sources.

Despite the funding situation, Bacon said, “we are certainly much closer than we were.”

Bacon said officials are “courting organizations like Hannaford, Iberdrola (CMP’s parent company) and Cianbro for funding or in-kind donations.

Read the full article online here.

This article, written by Saco City Planner Bob Hamblen, appeared August 2016 in the City of Saco’s “Pepperrell Post” newsletter

Walkers, bicyclists and runners using the Eastern Trail in Saco have one more reason to get out and enjoy the trail: a new water fountain and water bottle fill-up station has been installed on the trail just off Mill Brook Road.

The new water station, a first along the twenty miles of Eastern Trail that runs from Bug Light Park in South Portland to Rte. 35 in Kennebunk, is the result of local trail users asking, “could a water fountain be installed on the trail? It’s hot out out there and we’re thirsty!” Eastern Trail Alliance trustee Bob Lanigra, a former Saco resident who now lives in Scarborough, met several people along the trail who mentioned how welcome a source of water would be, particularly in warm weather.

Lanigra first looked into a possible fountain location off Pine Point Road, near the Scarborough Marsh. Water service was not available off the exiting parking lot that services trail users. His search for a suitable location headed south, to a section of trail that is owned by the Maine Water Company.

“Maine Water was very open to working with us when they heard about the water fountain idea,” said Lanigra, a long-time runner and cyclist who participated in his 24th Trek Across Maine in June. “They own the property where Mill Brook Road narrows to an entrance to the trail, and were willing to do the installation if we bought the fountain.”

Lanigra swung into action. He contacted Maine Molecular Quality Controls, Inc., which recently completed a new building in the City’s Mill Brook Business Park. Joan Gordon, president of MMQCI, is a fan of the Eastern Trail, and in fact chose the Mill Brook location due to its proximity to the trail. Ms. Gordon confirmed her support for the fountain by offering to pay half the cost of the new unit.

Who would pay for the other half of the new fountain? Lanigra, who retired from a career in sales, next approached the Chiropractic Family Wellness Center in Scarborough, whom he is familiar with through his interest in running. They were willing to help with the project by contributing the remainder of the cost.

Maine Water Company then needed a base for the fountain to be installed on. They reached out to a vendor, American Concrete Industries, Inc., of Auburn, which was willing to donate a concrete base. With that, the fountain was ordered, and in a few weeks time, a Maine Water crew installed the base, made the connection to an existing water main, and the fountain was dropped into place.

“I was by the fountain last week, and while I was there two people stopped and drank and filled their water bottles,” said Carole Brush, executive director of the Eastern Trail Alliance. “They said they really appreciated having the fountain available.”

Thank you to all who made Saco’s newest “hydration station” a reality. Let’s put that fountain to good use!

Posted: Thursday, November 19, 2015 11:38 am – By Kate Irish Collins

Images of snowy egrets, glossy ibis and great blue herons, along with other marsh animals, now grace a new art installation along the Scarborough Marsh section of the Eastern Trail.

The new informational sign, which was created by local artist Jada Fitch, teaches trail users about the various marsh animals, as well as offering a bit of information about the marsh itself, including its historic Native American name – Owascoag, or Land of Many Grasses.

The sign is located just north of the bridge over the Scarborough River in a spot that overlooks a bend in the river, which is a popular spot for bird watching.

The goal of the project is for the artwork to “mimic what you see” out on the marsh, according to Bob Bowker, vice president of the Eastern Trail Alliance and a Scarborough resident.

“We just thought it would be a good enhancement to the trail,” he added.

The interpretative sign is the first in a series that the trail alliance has planned, Bowker said.

The next sign will likely be placed on the Biddeford section of the Eastern Trail, which runs from Kittery to Bug Light in South Portland and which is part of the larger East Coast Greenway.

The signs are being paid for through a $7,000 donation that the trail group received anonymously last fall, Bowker said.

There were no strings attached to the money, and, Bowker said, trail overseers agreed that creating and installing interpretative signs depicting the wildlife that can be seen along the Eastern Trail, as well as sharing trail history, would be a good use of the funds.

Bowker said the sign recently installed on the Scarborough Marsh section of the trail meets National Park Service standards and should therefore stand the test of time.

He also said trail overseers were “very happy” with Fitch’s work and said the alliance is “considering further collaborations with Jada.”

Bowker said that while most of the feedback on the new interpretative sign has been from Eastern Trail board members, overall it’s been “very well received and we will definitely be doing more of these.”

Read the entire article online here.