Maine will bolster trail systems with $30M in borrowing

By Michael Shepherd, Bangor Daily News Staff

Mainers voted Tuesday to pass a $30 million bond proposal that will go toward designing, developing and maintaining trail systems.

The yes side of Question 4 had 55 percent of votes to 45 for the no side when the Bangor Daily News and its national partner, Decision Desk HQ, called the race at 1:16 p.m. Wednesday.

Half of the money borrowed under the measure will go toward recreational trails, while the rest will be divided about evenly between motorized and non-motorized trails. A wide coalition of environmental and business groups supported it alongside snowmobile and ATV clubs.

The measure easily passed the Maine Legislature with support from Democrats and Republicans from a mix of urban and rural areas. It was opposed by rail advocates who have long seen trails as subsuming rail networks that they think should be returned to use.