Advocacy Alert: Bill LD29 will make the Merrymeeting Trail possible!

What is the Merrymeeting Trail?

Merrymeeting Trail is a planned 26-mile multi-use trail in midcoast Maine that would pass through the villages of Topsham, Bowdoinham, Richmond, and Gardiner and connect these four communities.  The completed trail would be 8 to 12 feet wide, with a surface that is either pavement or stone dust.  This easily accessible trail will create a space for short walks near towns or longer trips between the communities, located in the long-unused Lower Road Railroad Corridor, on the right-of-way owned by the State of Maine.  The rail way follows a beautiful route along the Kennebec River and Merrymeeting Bay, providing a place for recreation, exercise, and travel. The trail would join Augusta to Brunswick by linking the Kennebec River Rail Trail in the north to the Androscoggin River Bicycle and Pedestrian Path in the south.

Learn more about the trail.

What is LD 29?

“Resolve, to Require the Department of Transportation to Implement the Recommendations of the Lower Road Rail Use Advisory Council”

This bill is the final hurdle to pass before trail engineering designs, community input on trail designs, and trail construction – along with fundraising for these pieces – can begin.

The communities around the trail have been working to advance it since 2008, and a key step was the 2023 Rail Use Advisory Council process that was charged with making a recommendation for future use of the Lower Road rail corridor.  A 14-member Council convened by MaineDOT went through a nine-month process of regular meetings, discussions, fact-finding, and analysis of rail and/or trail use of the corridor.  At the end of the process, the committee voted to recommend the creation of a trail along the corridor, basing this decision on a variety of factors including costs, transportation and community demand, feasibility, community benefits, and the many public comments that came in during the process.

Read more about the Rail Use Advisory Council study, report, and recommendations.

What can YOU do?

  1. Sign the letter of support. 
  2. Sign up for updates about the bill and trail from Merrymeeting Trailblazers.
  3. Call or email your legislator to let them know you support LD 29 and ask them to do the same! Explain what the trail would mean to you, to your family, to local businesses, and to your community.
  4. Once the hearing is scheduled, submit written testimony.