Within weeks, the inactive Mountain Division line rail bed stretching from South Windham to Westbrook will open for pedestrian use, provisionally completing the Sebago to the Sea Trail.
The 28-mile pedestrian trail, which starts at Sebago Lake in Standish and sticks close to the Presumpscot River as it flows through Gorham, Windham, Westbrook, Falmouth and Portland on its way to Casco Bay, opened in October 2012. Since the opening of the trail, the Department of Transportation, which owns the inactive, 4.8-mile stretch of the Mountain Division line, has barred pedestrian access amid efforts to improve and restore the rail.
Since 2012, Sebago to the Sea Trail users have been advised to paddle down the Presumpscot from the Mallison Falls Dam in Windham to Lincoln Street, located just above the Saccarappa Dam near the Dana Warp Mill in Westbrook.
When improvements to the Mallison Falls Bridge are completed in coming weeks, the department will open the section of rail line to pedestrian use, completing the long-awaited 28-mile hiking trail.
“The corridor is no longer under construction so now we’re going to allow people to use the corridor,” said Dan Stewart, a planner for the State Department of transportation.
Unlike the stretch of the Mountain Division line from South Windham to Otter Ponds in Standish, the Westbrook-to-South Windham stretch does not include a paved trail. That means the line will only be open to pedestrians and snowmobilers, according to Tania Neuschafer Zuckerman, a staff member with the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust, which facilitates the Sebago to the Sea Trail. If the department leases the line to a railroad, pedestrian use would be forced to halt until the construction of a paved trail running parallel to the rail line, she said.
“The Sebago to the Sea Trail Coalition’s vision for the Sebago to the Sea trail was to create a contiguous hiking trail from Sebago Lake to Casco Bay,” Zuckerman said. “This will complete their vision while access remains open on the inactive rail corridor.”
A Maine railroad startup, Golden Eagle Rail Corp., has declared its intention to move freight on the Mountain Division line starting as early as this summer. The firm is awaiting the outcome of lease negotiations with the Maine Department of Transportation. Golden Eagle President David Schwanke could not be reached for comment by the newspaper’s deadline.
With the line inactive for now, pedestrians will be able to walk near and along the rail stretching from Westbrook to South Windham, Stewart said.
“Sometimes you’re walking on the ties, sometimes you’re walking right next to the ties,” he said.
According to Michael Parker, board president of the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust, the South Windham-to-Westbrook trail “is not the same caliber as the rest of the trail.”
Yet the views, according Zuckerman, are “stunning.”
“This five-mile section is one of the most stunning sections of the Sebago to the Sea Trail,” Zuckerman said. “As you hike along this section, you have the most fantastic views of the Presumpscot River and you really do feel that it’s a very rural and natural part of the trail. It really is very, very beautiful.”
According to Parker and Stewart, construction of a “rail with trail” along the stretch – defined as a paved trail more than 10 feet and 6 inches from the rail line would cost between $3 million and $4 million. The town of Windham and city of Westbrook are seeking grant funding to build a paved walking and bicycling trail alongside the tracks, from the Maine Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, according to Stewart. If funding is secured, the towns would need to contribute 20 percent of the project cost, he said.
According to Brian Ross, director of Windham Parks and Recreation, who has been overseeing the Mallison Falls bridge improvements, the bridge will be ready for pedestrian use by next month.
The 28-mile trail starts or ends, depending on your direction of travel, at Sebago Lake, about 1.5 miles through the woods from the end of Pond Road in Standish. The trail runs through Portland Water District-owned Sebago Lake Land Reserve to the Otter Ponds, near Sebago Lake Village. At that point, the trail connects to the paved Mountain Division Rail with Trail, managed by the Mountain Division Alliance. The next dozen miles takes walkers and riders through pastoral Gorham into South Windham and onto Westbrook, where signs direct trail users off the railroad tracks and onto Bridge Street, following sidewalks to East Bridge Street. At Puritan Drive, the trail re-enters the woods in a newly built, 1.5-mile section that runs along the Presumpscot River to Route 302, where the trail enters Portland and travels through the Riverton Trolley Park.
In Portland, the trail runs behind the Riverside Street recycling center and onto the Riverside Municipal Golf Course before entering Falmouth near the Maine Turnpike. The trail then re-enters Portland, making its way through neighborhoods and city-owned parks and school complexes to Back Cove and the East End Trail. The trail ends, 28 miles from Sebago Lake, at East End Beach on the Eastern Promenade.
Road bikers turn onto the recently expanded Sebago to the Sea Trail where it crosses to Gambo Road in Windham. Photo by Rich Obrey
The Johnson family from Gorham enjoys a sunny walk along the recently expanded Sebago to the Sea Trail near Gambo Road in Windham. The 28-mile trail will start to utilize a 4.8-mile section along the Mountain Division rail line from Windham into Westbrook in coming weeks. Photo by Rich Obrey
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