The Kennebec Messalonskee Trails Story

We now have about 6 miles of trails with portions in the City of Waterville and the surrounding Towns of Benton, Winslow, Fairfield, and Oakland. They include:

1. Mill Island Park in Fairfield. This little gem, with about ½ mile of footpaths around the perimeter of where the mills used to be. The Town of Fairfield continues to make this a special place, with good signage, clearing of brush, and construction of a rest room and some playground equipment.

2. The Rotary Centennial Trail, about 2 miles long, from Benton into Winslow, was sponsored to the tune of $55,000 and many hours of labor, by the Waterville Rotary Club. Contributions also came from the State Recreational Trail Fund, the Town of Benton, and many of you (and our neighborhood friend Paul Newman), via your contributions to Kennebec Messalonskee Trails. The trail follows an old railroad bed through woods with great views of the industrial side of the river in Waterville and Fairfield. In 2006 the trail was officially recognized as part of the East Coast Greenway, the only part with superhumus as a surface. Also in 2006 we received a grant of about $5000 for the construction of signs telling of the natural and human history along this trail. Sign design, in process, is a cooperative venture between KMTrails, Unity College students, and 5th and 6th graders in Benton Elementary School.

3. The North Street Recreational Area Loop trails are a set of trails still in the making. You can start at the little boat landing opposite the Thayer Campus of MaineGeneral, and follow a beautifully prepared and paved section about ¾ mile streamside to the Alfond pool. After our work this year you will be able to continue till you get to Edgemont Street, which leads back to North Street for a 2-mile loop. Neighborhood concerns about several aspects of this trail made headlines in 2006. We welcome the expression of such concerns, so that we can address them in our planning. From Edgemont to Head of Falls on the Kennebec the trail will be along sidewalks and city streets. We anticipate that this section will be a model for developing what we want for the whole community, namely “bicycle-pedestrian friendly streets”.

4. The Messalonskee Stream Trail in Oakland was built in the summer of 2006 by the Maine Conservation Corps with funding from the State’s Recreational Trail Program, the Town of Oakland and the Outdoor Heritage Fund. The terrain is rugged, and leads through exquisitely beautiful woods overlooking the gorge by the former Cascade Woolen Mill, or the pretty and private lake behind the FPL dam. This trail is definitely not handicapped-accessible and is mostly narrow. Instead it compares with parts of the Appalachian hiking trail. It will extend about 3 miles from Kennedy Memorial Drive downstream to Rice Rips Road on land donated by the dam owners, as their public access component necessary to obtain a FERC license on the dam. The trail will be parallel to and mostly separate from an established ATV-mountain bike trail along a CMP pole easement. Eric Seekins, Recreational Director for the Town of Oakland led the effort on this one. Steel steps over the historic wooden penstock will be welded by Oakland Public Works using steel donated by Synergics Energy, owners of the dam. One Public Works employee has taken on making a nice kiosk from a National Parks Service design used for the Brunswick Trail. This trail, like all the others in our network, is a model of cooperative efforts by many. We are looking forward to an opening on National Trails Day, June 2nd.

In 2007 we anticipate completing another 4 miles of trail including the following:

5. The Fairfield Water Street trail, which starts at the new Route 139 bridge, following the riverside edge of the Town parking area, past the Community Center and playground, and along Water Street and King Street to the rear of the Huhtamaki factory. This trail will involve painting already paved surfaces, and installing trail signs to encourage use. It is about 1 mile long and will be a delightful short walk for neighbors in Fairfield. The Town of Fairfield is taking this on as a Public Works project. Funding is already assured.

6. The Thomas College Campus Trail will be completed in the fall. A cooperative grant application process between us and Thomas College helped bring in a grant of $30,000 from the Maine State Recreational Trail Fund, with matching funds from Inland Hospital and KMTrails. The Maine Conservation Corps will be doing the building, with help from Thomas College students.

7. Completion of the Alfond to Head of Falls “Waterville Connector” Trail. This trail is to some minds not a trail at all, but a learning experience on the journey towards a bicycle-pedestrian-friendly community. Most of its length is along City Streets, with sidewalks, white lines painted where bikes should go, and crossings. I would like to have this trail break new ground into having Waterville labeled as Brunswick already is, as a bike-ped-friendly city.

8. Work on the Head of Falls Trail. The City is eager to have a thriving waterfront on the Kennebec. After 40 years of nothing on the waterfront, the City, through the Waterville Development Corporation has put a lot of money into getting utilities and a parking space between the railroad and the river. However, no acceptable developer has shown up. So one idea is to develop a trail to make it that much more attractive. Others say we should wait for a developer to show to let them make the decisions. We shall see what transpires.

9. A Recreational Trail around the Winslow School Property. This trail is actually already there, but little used because it is too narrow, too boggy underfoot, and incomplete. A $30,000 State grant has been awarded to the School District, and construction is expected this summer, adding perhaps another mile to our trail network. This trail concept, plan and funding application was completed by SAD 52 with very little in put from us.

April 18, 2007 State of the Trails Report presented at the annual meeting.