Maine Mountain Division Trail Expanding

The new trail segment is part of a decades-long vision to create a more than 50-mile continuous multi-use path from Fryeburg to Portland. The full trail follows the corridor of the historic Maine Central Railroad's Mountain Division, which once connected Portland to St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Passenger service on this scenic rail line ended in 1958, and the last freight trains ran in 1983, after which the line was abandoned. The project to convert the unused rail corridor into a recreational trail has been in progress for nearly three decades, advanced by advocacy groups like the Friends of the Mountain Division Trail. Currently, the Mountain Division Trail exists in disconnected sections, including a 4-mile stretch in Fryeburg and a 5.6-mile path from Standish to Windham. The new 5-mile extension will connect the existing trail in South Windham to Westbrook, creating a continuous 10-mile stretch from Standish. The $450,000 grant from the Maine Department of Transportation is specifically for completing the engineering and design work, a crucial step that makes the project "shovel-ready" for construction. This planning phase revives a project that was initially studied in 2012 but stalled due to a lack of funding. This "trail until rail" project preserves the corridor for potential future rail service, a point of discussion among advocates. The Conway Scenic Railroad, a heritage railway in New Hampshire, has previously expressed interest in running excursions on the Maine portion of the line. Similar rail-trail projects in Maine have demonstrated significant economic benefits. A study of the Eastern Trail, which runs from Kittery to South Portland, showed it generates an estimated $44.6 million in annual economic activity and supports 364 jobs.