It’s full steam ahead for rail conversion

CHERRYFIELD – Bill Ceckler brought the champagne, Sally Jacobs brought the rhubarb pie, and representatives of Maine’s Department of Transportation and Department of Conservation brought the good news.

Members of the Sunrise Trail Coalition, including co-chairmen Ceckler of Hancock and Jacobs of Orono, gathered Wednesday afternoon at a picnic spot along the Narraguagus River.

Surrounded by several others who have worked alongside them for 15 years to gain the state’s approval for the conversion of 85 miles of rail bed to recreational trail, they popped the champagne corks within sight of the Calais Branch rails, which haven’t seen a train in more than 20 years.

By fall, the DOC hopes to have hired a full-time, year-round person who will serve as the manager for the trail.

Also by fall, the DOT will be taking bids from companies that want to take on the work of taking up the tracks, sending the steel rails to salvage and laying a graded trail in place of the rail bed.

“This project has the highest priority,” Dan Stewart, the DOT’s bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, told the group of 16. “Realistically, it could open in 2007, in the summer or the fall, if the money is there.”

The project gained the approval of the Legislature’s Transportation Committee last month with a 12-1 vote. The vote authorized the DOT to proceed with its proposal to create an interim multipurpose trail as outlined in the Management Plan and Proposal for the Calais Branch Corridor.

The “interim” status refers to the wishes of some residents in both Hancock and Washington counties to ultimately “bring back the railroad” – when that transportation form becomes an economic viability.

In the meantime, trail advocates – and the state – believe that the Down East region will only prosper with the development of the trail as a tourism and recreation opportunity.

Funding for the trail project will come one-third from the DOT and two-thirds from the DOC, largely via license fees from the state’s owners of snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles.

The DOT estimates that the rail bed’s conversion will cost between $30,000 and $50,000 for each mile of trail. Money recovered from salvaging the rails will bring between $10,000 and $30,000 per mile, depending on the market.

“We will do everything we can to build the 85 miles as soon as funding allows, depending on how the salvage money comes in,” Stewart said.

“This project needs to be done, and it’s the right thing to do for the region.”

The trail’s management plan was drawn up in the last year after Gov. John Baldacci gave his blessing last July to the prospect of converting the rail to trail. More than 30 people – from citizens to town representatives, from county commissioners to county planners and county sheriffs – took part in meetings last fall and winter.

They envisioned a shared-use corridor that starts at Washington Junction in Hancock and runs across the Washington County line to Ayers Junction in Pembroke. The trail would be open to all – snowmobilers, cross-country skiers, hikers, cyclists and riders of both all-terrain vehicles and horses.

The Sunrise Trail Coalition, the heart of the trail’s supporters, will celebrate the trail announcement again on National Trails Day on Saturday, June 3. Trail advocates and the Machias Bay Area Chamber of Commerce are planning an event in Machias at Station 98, the former railway stop that the town is working to preserve.