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By: Robert Janis
An Anatomy of a
Rails-to-Trails Project in Maine
Question: What if your state has an old
railroad corridor that is not being used, but it
needs to be available for rail service sometime
in the future? What would you do? The state of
Maine had such a dilemma, and it decided to
convert an 85-mile long corridor of rail into a
trail. The corridor remains available to
railroad service should the need arise. Also,
the cost of construction is being paid out of
the money received for the salvaging of the
rails.
Known as the Downeast Sunrise Trail, it runs
along the entire Downeast coastal area of Maine
and connects multiple scenic conservation areas,
intersects salmon rivers and is near two
state-designated scenic highways. It will be a
multi-use trail. That is, it will be used by
ATV’ers, snowmobilers, hikers, walkers,
equestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and
cross country skiers.
History of the Project
The Maine Department of Transportation acquired
the corridor from the Maine Central Railroad in
1987 to preserve it for future rail use. The
land was basically left alone while the
Department of Transportation tried to determine
how to use it.
While the decision was pending, the Sunrise
Trail Coalition was formed in 1991 with the
mission of convincing the Department of
Transportation to convert the corridor into a
trail. The Coalition consists of groups who
would use the trail for recreation including ATV
and snowmobile clubs and others.
The fact that the corridor was there and that
the Department of Transportation owned it and
was trying to decide how to use it was known by
basically the entire population of the state of
Maine. All knew that whatever was done with the
corridor, it had to be preserved for possible
rail use in the future.
Sally Jacobs organized the Coalition, and Bill
Ceckler is the current president. Ceckler noted
that he and Jacobs used to hike and ski on the
railroad bed; and each thought that since it
wasn’t being used, it would make a terrific
trail.
The Maine Department of Transportation held a
number of meetings to decide what to do with the
corridor keeping in mind that it needed to be
preserved for possible rail use later. “People
told the DOT that there wasn’t enough population
and business density in Downeast Maine to
support a railroad,” said Ceckler. “And the DOT
was also told that if the corridor was to be
used for a railroad in the future, the DOT would
have to re-build it. They would have to take up
the old rails and ties and re-build the bed.
“The Coalition argued that if the DOT had to
re-build the corridor before they ever think
about re-using it, then why not use the rail bed
as a recreation trail until there is a
justification to re-activate it as a railroad.”
Ceckler added that the group agreed with the
Maine DOT that if or when the state needed to
re-activate the railroad, the Coalition would
move the trail.
So the Coalition approached the Department of
Transportation with its idea and Jacobs and
Ceckler talked up the plan. As Ceckler was on a
citizens’ advisory committee to the Department
of Transportation for Hancock and Washington
Counties, and Jacobs was involved in several
transportation committees in Augusta, they kept
nagging the DOT after a proposal was submitted.
The DOT did a study on possibly putting a trail
beside the rail bed. According to Dan Stewart of
the Maine Department of Transportation, the
study found that it would be extremely costly to
execute such a plan, but it would be cheaper to
do a rail-to-trail conversion of the corridor.
The Governor of Maine then asked the DOT to do a
feasibility study for a Rails-to-Trails project
and create a plan as to who would manage the
site and how to use the trail to rehabilitate
the corridor, explained Stewart. “So the DOT
created a management planning committee which
determined that the Maine Department of
Conservation would be the best agency to oversee
the rehabilitation, construct, and maintain the
corridor. DOT would remove the rails because
they were substandard anyway and the money
received for the salvage of the rails would be
used to fund the construction of the trail,”
said Stewart.
Public hearings were held to discuss the project
and the management plan, and then the idea was
passed on to the state legislature. After
hearings in the legislature, the Rails-to-Trails
management plan was passed by the legislature as
a rehabilitation project.
The DOT then accepted bids to contract out the
construction. Vaughn Thibodeau & Sons of Bangor,
Maine was chosen as the lowest bidder. The
rehabilitation of the railroad corridor from
Washington Junction in Hancock, Maine, to Ayers
Junction in Pembroke, Maine started in June
2008.
Construction and the Future
On October 22, 2009 the first 32 miles of the
trail was opened from Machias to Pembroke,
explained Skip Varney, senior planner,
Department of Conservation Bureau of Parks &
Lands, Off-Road Vehicle Division. He noted that
after construction is completed, the Department
of Conservation Bureau of Parks & Lands,
Off-Road Vehicle Division will be given the
authority to maintain the trail. User fees will
be used to pay for the maintenance work. It is
expected that ATV and snowmobile club members
will do volunteer work including additional
signage and light maintenance, said Varney.
Varney noted that current work involves 24
bridges on the trail. “We’re getting the bridges
in order from Washington Junction through the
rest of the trail,” he said. So far, about 80
percent of the bridges have been completed. It
is hoped that the rest will be done by the end
of December.
Charles Corliss, recreational trail coordinator
for the Department of Conservation, Bureau of
Parks and Lands, Off Road Vehicle Division, is
the manager of the Sunrise Trail. He is
currently managing the construction. Once
construction is complete, he will oversee
activities on the trail including signage and
maintenance. According to Corliss, major
maintenance work, like fixing damaged culverts,
may be contracted out or handled through The
Department of Conservation. The off-road vehicle
division has tractors, bulldozers, and
excavators to assist with assorted projects.
Volunteers from the various clubs in the area
will do the light work.
Corliss is a major ATV enthusiast. He said that
the biggest thing about the trail for ATV’ers is
that it will connect with more than 800 miles of
interconnected ATV trails that run north-south
through Maine. The Sunrise Trail runs east-west.
“Compared with other ATV trails, this trail will
be the jewel of Downeast Maine. It will help ATV
recreationists reach a lot of beautiful areas of
the state,” he concluded.
The trail is scheduled to be complete by
September 2010.
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