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City-wide trail system beginning construction in Brewer
Friday, January 27, 2012
A
view of the starting point of Brewer’s trail system. The trail will
begin at the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge by the Muddy Rudder and head
downriver to Hardy Street. But future plans will build a trail
running almost the entire length of Brewer’s river frontage, and
eventually encircle the entire city. Before this project began, the
city did a $4 million shore-stabilization project to stop rampant
erosion of the riverbanks.
This spring, the Maine DOT will begin work on Brewer’s waterfront
trail, the first piece of an ambitious project that will eventually
run nearly the entire length of Brewer’s river frontage, encircle
the city, and be part of a Florida-to-Maine system.
Thanks to $1.8 million in federal money, the Maine Department of
Transportation is expected to begin work this spring on the first
stretch. The six-foot-wide, multi-use trail from the Joshua
Chamberlain Bridge down to Hardy Street, featuring benches,
lighting, and beautiful landscaping, will open this year.
“It’s not a huge section, but it’s one of the most visible
sections,” said Brewer Economic Development Director D’arcy Main-Boyington.
The city has prepared for this for years, beginning with a $4
million shore-stabilization project north of the Veterans
Remembrance Bridge. Shore erosion has increased to 7-12 inches per
year, probably due to water-flow changes from the bridge’s piers.
This project will begin at the parking lot where the old Archer
Block once stood, using HUD funds for extensive landscaping and to
erect a curved brick wall to mirror the familiar one on the other
side of Wilson Street. The trail will run from the Muddy Rudder, and
along the way include a Children’s Garden. At the end, on the former
public-safety site, will be a second parking lot, where the city
hopes to have a visitors’ center, public bathrooms, and possibly a
take-out restaurant.
But this is just the beginning of a citywide system called the
Penobscot Landing Multi-Use Trail. It will follow the Felts Brook
corridor, which runs from Dirigo Drive to I-395, then circles
northwesterly and ends at the river in North Brewer. The system will
include on- and off-road components. To build it, the city and the
Brewer Land Trust have been acquiring land for several years along
Felts Brook. Much of it has come from conservation easements that
will be in place forever, thanks to developers.
Here’s how it works. If a developer wants to build on wetlands, the
Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of
Engineers must approve the project. They will then require the
developer to put land into conservation easements, enhance existing
wetlands, or create new wetlands. So if a developer wants to build
on one wetland acre, the DEP might demand 10 acres of conserved
lands elsewhere, which preserves more wetlands than are destroyed.
Easements are generally kept local. In fact, the land where Felts
Brook empties into the Penobscot in North Brewer was provided by
Lowe’s when it built in Brewer. And when the City of Brewer built
Dirigo Drive, it purchased land along Felts Brook for conservation
easements.
Main-Boyington stressed that the long-term plan has no set timetable
and is dependent on when Brewer secures funding to proceed with the
next piece. Although the costliest component, the waterfront piece
is the part that can boost Brewer’s economy.
“We’ve tried to focus on improving the public spaces that will then
encourage businesses to settle in that area,” she said. “When we
have pedestrians getting out of their cars and walking up and down
the waterfront, this will become very valuable land for businesses.
It would be great if we were going to have the whole thing done this
year, but it’s a good start. I think it’s going to be a really big
move for the City of Brewer.”
City Planner Linda Johns has several angles into this project: her
job, her interests as a licensed forester, and her personal love of
hiking. But she’s also a member of the Brewer Land Trust, which is
instrumental in conserving land for this project.
“One of the objectives of this trail is to have several different
fingers to it, so that it can get people to different things — like
the high school, the [Brewer] auditorium, the library — so that
people can use it for recreational purposes, but also transportation
purposes,” Johns said.
The long-term dream is to join with regional and national bicycle
and pedestrian networks, eventually connecting with the Down East
Sunrise Trail, which currently runs from Ellsworth to Calais, and
the East Coast Greenway, which will run from Key West, Fla. to
Calais.
Johns echoed that it won’t happen tomorrow, but with public
awareness and ongoing conservation efforts, it’s a matter of time.
“I’m looking forward to having more of this done,” said Johns. “We
have a lot of people that are helping us, with mitigation plans and
the city and the Land Trust and… someday!”
A copyright article
by David M. Fitzpatrick, Of
Bangor Daily News, The Weekly Staff,
posted Jan. 27, 2012, at 2:18 p.m.
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