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Monday, June 10, 2002
New signs to mark path for bicycles
Copyright © 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||||
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The Eastern Trail Alliance is expected Wednesday to finalize its list of where some 200 new bicycle route signs will go, marking the first time in Maine a specific bicycle route will be clearly marked. "It's exciting that it's the first signing of a major route. We hope to do more things like this," said John Balicki of the Department of Transportation. "We're hoping everything will be approved." The 50-mile Eastern Trail runs along the abandoned Eastern Line railroad from Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth, N.H., to Bug Light Park in South Portland. The alliance was formed in 1997 to help with the East Coast Greenway project, which plans to connect Calais to Key West, Fla., through off-road bicycle and pedestrian paths. The Eastern Trail is part of that route. Eastern Trail Alliance president John Andrews says $7,000 had been raised by the alliance for the new signs, and Balicki says his department was able to add almost $2,000 from money that was previously allocated to the Eastern Trail and never used. Balicki says the roughly $9,000 will be enough to get the project started, and to clearly mark all questionable intersections. Balicki, who is the bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for the Department of Transportation, says all that's left is for the 12 communities involved in the Eastern Trail project to agree to provide the labor to install the signs, which is no small aid. Balicki has been involved in the East Coast Greenway route that covers some 618 miles in Maine. He would like to see the route marked all the way to Calais, but so far does not have the funding to do so, largely because of the high cost of labor. He says the cost would be far beyond the roughly $52,000 that would cover the signs. "Part of the reason we're able to do (the Eastern Trail) so simply, is we do have the towns in the district already cooperating in the project," Balicki said. "The installation would raise the cost considerably." The 12 communities include Kittery, Eliot, South Berwick, North Berwick, Wells, Kennebunk, Arundel, Biddeford, Saco, Old Orchard Beach, Scarborough and South Portland. Balicki says if the communities cannot, for some reason, install the signs, something will be done by the alliance to ensure they're in place by the end of this summer - although that would require raising more funds or making fewer signs. The signs will go beyond what the existing roadway bicycle signs accomplish. Those signs warn motorists that a bicycle lane exists. The new signs will direct cyclists to the Eastern Trail route. A few signs also will mark special sites, such as the train stations in Wells and Portland. Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at: dfleming@pressherald.com |
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