King backs bicycle paths $8 million plan good for health

AUGUSTA – An $8 million plan to invest in 19 pedestrian and bicycle trails and 300 miles of paved shoulders “is good for Maine because it’s good for transportation, good for health and it’s good for community livability,” Gov. Angus S. King said Wednesday.

When plans for an expansive bike trail along the Androscoggin River were announced several years ago for King’s hometown of Brunswick, there was plenty of skepticism, he said. Now that trail is used year-round by walkers and bikers and has become “one of the most successful infrastructure projects I have ever seen,” the governor said at a Wednesday press conference.

The new pedestrian and bicycle projects sought by the Department of Transportation should be equally successful, he said.

The payback would come in many areas, including a reduction in health care costs. According to national studies, a 20-minute walk once a week will cut an individual’s health care costs by five percent over a lifetime. If that exercise is extended to three days a week, health care costs will decrease 15 percent, King said. “That is a huge amount of money at a time when fitness is declining,” he said.

The $8 million in projects will be funded mostly with federal money and a matching state share of $750,000. The state share has been included in a $61 million transportation bond now before the Legislature. The $61 million would generate $128 million in additional federal funds for various transportation projects, officials said.

DOT Commissioner John G. Melrose said the proposed trails support the national goals to double walking and biking trips while cutting accidents in half. “We are making best use of a pot of federal money that is specifically set aside for bicycle and pedestrian improvements. It cannot be used for general highway and bridge improvements, but is intended to provide better connections to town centers, schools and recreation areas. Interest is so high that we have had twice as many applicants as the funding could cover,” he said.

Groups that supported the $8 million program on Wednesday included the Bicycle Coalition of Maine and the East Coast Greenway Alliance, promoters of a bike path from Maine to Florida. Sue Ellen Boardwell of Yarmouth, an alliance trustee, said 14 of the 19 projects have the potential to be part of the Greenway effort scheduled for completion in 2010, to connect Calais to Key West, Florida.

“The East Coast Greenway will encourage visitors to leave their cars at home by linking not only the rail, but also bus and ferry passenger service to other destinations along the trail network. These projects will serve Maine people, but also will help promote Maine as a tourism destination for people riding the Greenway,” Boardwell said.

Maine has almost as many bicycles (890,000) as cars according to the Bicycle Coalition of Maine. “Improving conditions for bicycling in Maine is a wise investment in public money that benefits the health and quality of life of our communities,” according to BCM director Jeff Miller.

The $8 million program includes projects in:

. Calais, $700,000 to develop a 2.6-mile, shared-use path between downtown and Moosehorn Connector.

. Ellsworth, $700,000 for a 2-mile path to connect Ellsworth Falls to the downtown.

. Houlton, $380,000 for improvements to Meduxnekeag Riverfront Park.

. Carabasset Valley, $300,000 for a 5.6-mile path along Carabasset Stream.

. Belfast, $282,000 to rehabilitate the Passagassawakeag Bridge and establish a path between the Troy Howard Middle school and downtown Belfast.

. Unity, $253,500 to connect the college with the downtown area.

. Pleasant Point Reservation, $225,000 for a 2-mile path to connects both ends of the reservation.

. Orono, $71,250 for a sidewalk at Maine Technology Park.

. Brewer, $50,000 for a feasibility study for a path along the waterfront.

Information about the various proposed projects can be found on the Internet at www.bikerisso.com and www.state.me.us/mdot