The town of Scarborough will continue with improvements to the Eastern Trail this year if $135,000 included in the proposed budget is adopted by the Town Council.
The money will be used to complete a portion of the trail from Pine Point Road to Old Blue Point Road. It will be used to regrade and resurface the trail. In addition, a 10-space parking lot and small turnaround will be built on Old Blue Point Road.
Meanwhile, there also is a strong possibility that the federal government will provide $1 million for trail improvements in a transportation spending package that recently received approval by the U.S. House of Representatives, according to Eastern Trail Alliance President John Andrews.
Scarborough has been one of the most active communities in terms of Eastern Trail improvements. Last fall a bridge across the Scarborough Marsh was completed. The new portion of the project will start there and extend the trail for another 2.6 miles and eventually connect to the town of Old Orchard Beach at Cascades Road.
The purpose of the Eastern Trail is to provide an off-road pathway connecting Kittery to Casco Bay.
There are two other Eastern Trail improvements in the long-term capital budget. One is built the trail around the Desfosses property at the Hillcrest Manufactured Housing Community, which will connect the trail to the Nonesuch River. That is expected to be started in 2008.
The third part is building a new bridge over the Nonesuch, which is expected to start in 2010.
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