Plans to replace inactive rail tracks with pedestrian trails approved by Legislature
Maine lawmakers passed two bills that will pave the way for the state to develop defunct rail lines into trails for walking, biking and more.
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted 118-26 to pass LD 30, which will replace inactive railroad tracks between Portland and Auburn with a multi-use pedestrian trail. A similar bill (LD 29) to convert tracks between Brunswick and Gardiner, as well as a portion between Pembroke and Calais in the Downeast region, into a trail also passed 116-26.
The Senate approved the proposals earlier this month but on Wednesday the upper chamber placed both bills on the special highway table, which is where bills not provided for in the budget are placed to be considered for remaining highway fund allocations.
Both proposals will require money, but the fiscal notes do not specify an amount. Rather, they direct the Maine Department of Transportation to undertake the projects subject to funding, permitting and municipal agreements.
LD 29 and LD 30 came from recommendations put forward by Rail Use Advisory Councils that solicited public input and held multiple meetings within the local communities to determine the best use for the tracks. Rep. Lydia Crafts (D-Newcastle), who co-chairs the Legislature's Transportation Committee, said that process exists to help guide legislators.
During the House debate, Rep. Karen Montell (D-Gardiner) introduced floor amendments for each of the bills, which sought to prohibit the state from moving forward with the trail development if there is an active business proposal for the rail line. Both amendments failed.
The State Railroad Preservation Act allows former rail lines to be converted into trail use, but stipulates that they must be preserved for future rail use. The statute says that any track removal or other change for nonrail use is considered interim. Because of that, Montell argued a more sensible solution would be to build a trail alongside the tracks so they can coexist.
Crafts said restricting the ability to use state dollars would prevent the project from being successful.
Rep. Amy Kuhn (D-Falmouth), who was involved with the RUAC process in her community, said she was in strong support of converting the redundant, deteriorating rail line into an active transit corridor where commuters can travel by foot or bike. She also worried that it would set a bad precedent to come in with a last-minute amendment to an extensive stakeholder process.
Although the Down East Sunrise Trail, a multiuse corridor connecting eastern Maine with the East Coast Greenway, was controversial at first, Rep. Will Tuell (R-East Machias) said businesses have embraced it and seen economic benefits. He loves walking his dog on the trail.
Seeing that change in his own community, Tuell said he supported LD 29 because extending the trail to Calais will only boost the whole region.
Similarly, Rep. Dan Ankeles (D-Brunswick) said the plan would mark one of the 'greatest advancements in active transportation in a long time.' He said that the best use of the defunct rail lines is a trail and that the lawmakers should 'take the words of the communities that actually did the work,' referring to the advisory councils that developed the recommendations.
If the Legislature failed to adopt the recommendations, Ankeles said, 'what we will actually get is a guarantee that nothing will ever happen at all on these lines except decay, abandonment and the squandering of potential in Washington, Sagadahoc and Kennebec counties. In short, economic blight.'
However, he said that would be avoided by passing the measures.
'We can do what Mainers do best and adapt and repurpose and in doing so we can deliver something truly wonderful for our constituents,' Ankeles added.
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