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By DAVID WALSH At a selectmen’s meeting on November 3, resident Mike Sealander met with the selectmen to suggest consideration of establishing a system of bike trails throughout the village. He said the idea came to him when he discovered a Web site posted by the Bicycle Coalition of Maine proposing such a system for Maine communities. Those attending the December 2 meeting included Dan Stewart of Maine’s Department of Transportation, Sealander, Cheryl Boulet, a Brooklin parent and member of the Brooklin School Board, Mary Cummins, Brooklin School Board chairman, Doug Hylan, a Brooklin businessman, Jim Fisher, from the Hancock County Planning Commission and a tuba player in the Brooklin Band, Haline Nawrot, Brooklin School principal, John Devin, Maine DOT, and Lorna Grant, Jerry Gray, and Rich Freethey, Brooklin selectmen. Stewart moderated the meeting. He said he meets with communities to discuss their options, and has held such meetings in Bangor and Portland as well as smaller towns such as Hermon. He said their first task would be to determine Brooklin’s needs and options. He brought with him an aerial photo of the town so they could see the areas being discussed. No specific route has yet been established. Stewart suggested each person identify himself and list reasons for attending. Sealander, father of three, said he would like to see a bike lane on Route 175 possibly from the Old County Road to the Brooklin School and on to the Center Harbor Road. He said it was a safety issue. Cummins and Boulet agreed that those areas had heavy foot, bicycle and vehicle traffic. Boulet said there were many walkers on the Old County Road and Cummins said the same for the Naskeag Road. Cummins added that a lot of summer boaters were attracted to Naskeag Point Road and to Wooden Boat for summer servicing and repairs and all those people were on foot. Hylan said he was concerned with the number of speeders in the community. He added that, as a parent, he was concerned about safety because the roads in town are quite narrow. As a businessman, he said, he contributed to some of the congestion. Nawrot said that, while she agreed with the safety concerns, she also supports the concept of a network of paths and bicycle lanes because of the beneficial effects of exercise for those who would bicycle to school. Currently, she estimated, 10 to 12 percent of the 81 students at the school bicycle or walk to school. A bicycle route would encourage more to cycle or walk to school, which would be beneficial for the health of the students. It was also brought up that there is congestion and a parking problem in the village, making the roads even narrower. Sealander wanted to know how they could plug the DOT into the proposal. The selectmen noted they had a discussion with DOT traffic engineer Bruce Mattson about creating some sort of a pedestrian path to the town’s library from the school. Mattson emphasized the need for providing safe “landing” areas at the ends of any road crossing sites; the state has cross-walk standards that need to be followed. Grant said she had been working with a municipal committee that was trying to deal with the congestion on the curve in front of the library. Gray said two years ago the town wanted to widen the Naskeag Road, but the price of asphalt was so high that the cost was prohibitive. Devin cautioned that sometimes widening a road ends up increasing speed on the roadway. Freethey said all of the points raised were valid, but there was a serious safety hazard in the community from the town office to the post office. Stewart reminded the gathering that state and federal funding for such projects is limited and Brooklin would be in competition for funds with many other Maine communities. He also reminded them that nothing will happen without community consensus, cautioning, “You have yet to see the opposition, there are trees, front yards…” Besides the political issues, Stewart and Devin warned that research, surveys, and other issues are not easy, but other towns have tackled similar situations and devised solutions. Stewart went on to say they would first have to figure out what type of a road they wanted. Possibilities could be the widening of existing roads with paved bicycle lanes on the side of the road, not just paved shoulders. They could also consider a road, curb and sidewalk construction, or a road, strip with drainage pipes and bike path. If they decided on sections of separate trails connecting with sidewalks the issue of plowing would need to be considered. Brunswick has a network of independent bike paths that might be useful to look at, Stewart said, and they might want to consider sidewalks closer to the village. Funding for rural roads is limited. Route 175 may be the town’s major artery, but it is considered as a minor collector by the state. It is too late, Stewart said, to be considered for highway funding this year, but they could begin planning now for 2012-13. Other programs to look into, he said, include the Rural Road Initiative program where the state pays 2/3 and the town pays 1/3. Whichever way the town decides to go, planning should begin soon, because funding is limited and major road renovation is estimated at a cost of $1.2 million per mile. Funding is not impossible, however, said Stewart. Area towns such as Blue Hill received funds for work near George Stevens Academy and Blue Hill Consolidated School and projects have been approved in Ellsworth, Bar Harbor and Southwest Harbor. Road construction, ditches, drainage, curbs, culverts, shoulders, easements and rights of way all have to be considered. Brooklin could look at combining different programs and work on an overall project on a piece-meal basis until it is completed; the town could elect to do some portions on its own and seek state and federal assistance for other portions. Stewart said they could consider linking existing recreational trails in the town with other sections of any proposed routes. The DOT doesn’t offer funding for such trails but there are state programs for developing recreational trails. Stewart told the assembly that Fisher of the Hancock County Planning Commission could assist them in developing a plan. Fisher added that he was in the process of developing a web page on creating a School Safety Route. Stewart said they might not find “the promised land” they were seeking as fast as they wanted to, but that first meeting was a great start. At the conclusion of the meeting, Gray accompanied the state and county officials on a walking tour of the business district and surrounding area. Return to the The Weekly Packet home page. |
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