ME: Portland-to-Auburn railway trail project advances in Legislature

The House of Representatives on Tuesday resoundingly supported a plan that would replace an abandoned rail line connecting Portland and Auburn with a multiuse trail.

While lawmakers endorsed the plan in a preliminary 118-26 vote that indicates it will be approved, the project would still need to be funded before any work could begin. Opponents said it would cost about $1 million per mile.

Critics of the plan argued Tuesday that the rail infrastructure, which provides a key connection between the Portland waterfront and Montreal, should be preserved in case funding becomes available for future rail service. But proponents argued that restoring rail service has so far proven unfeasible, and that a multiuse trail would provide a safe and healthy alternative for cyclists and pedestrians.

The proposal, which faces additional votes in each chamber, divided House Democrats, 13 of whom voted against it.

Rep. Karen Montell, D- Gardiner, opposed the proposal, arguing that the trail should be built alongside the existing rail line, rather than replace it. She said a state law requires the preservation of railways to preserve rail corridors for future rail use and limits other activities to temporary, or "interim," uses.

"It is my opinion that removing rail tracks would not fit the definition of interim," Montell said, adding that other portions of the rail line are used for freight. "A more sensible solution would be to build a trail along this rail line. ... Rails and trails together could create more economic growth ... than just trails alone."

Proponents of LD 30 noted that the proposal won the support of communities along the route.

Rep. Amy Kuhn said the project was also recommended by a rail use advisory committee, which included representatives of affected communities and stakeholders.

Kuhn said efforts to override the recommendations would subvert a process put in place by lawmakers to consider such proposals. She said the advisory group, which spent months receiving public feedback and studying the proposal, exists to balance the needs of trail and rail proponents, each of which have strong advocates.

Kuhn argued against a proposal from Montell that would prohibit the use of state funds for the project and allow a business to delay the project by submitting a proposal to use the rail line.

"It is very concerning to me that after a thorough and thoughtful process, which was commanded by the state, that a majority report of community stakeholders can be overturned by a last-minute amendment," Kuhn said.

Rep. Lydia Crafts, D- Newcastle, said the proposal does not include any state funding.

"This is a many years-long project that's before us that will include significant fundraising, if it's able to move forward," Crafts said.

Lawmakers also endorsed a similar project for converting about 29 miles of rail line between Gardiner and Brunswick and a 12-mile stretch along the Calais branch into multiuse trails. They voted against LD 487, a proposal that would have authorized the Maine Department of Transportation to seek federal funding to begin studying an extension of passenger rail service from Portland to Orono.

Rep. Dan Ankeles, D- Brunswick, said adding more multiuse trails could help address the number of bicyclist and pedestrian fatalities by giving people safer commuter routes. He said LD 29 would represent "a major advancement for public health and safety."

"Make no mistake — the best and highest use of these failed rail lines are these trails," Ankeles said. "If we fail to adopt this report, we will not get rail with trail. What we will actually get is a guarantee that nothing will ever happen at all on these lines except decay, abandonment and the squandering of potential in Washington, Sagadahoc and Kennebec counties. In short, economic blight."

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