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River Project Gets a Boost in Skowhegan

September 29, 2009 - SKOWHEGAN -- The Run of the River Project for the Kennebec River Gorge downtown got a boost with the receipt of a $200,000 grant from the Department of Transportation to improve a foot and bike trail on the south side of the river.

The Board of Selectmen accepted the money last week.

The money, generated through the federal enhancement fund for Maine, is to be matched with $50,000 worth of "in-kind" contributions from the town, including brush clearing and office work, Town Manager John Doucette Jr. said Monday.

Local contributions also have come in the form of grants from New Balance.

There also was a $110,000 state riverfront bond grant last year for all the easements necessary to finalize the walking trail along the river, and includes signage, parking, benches, picnic tables, outlook points and making the trail handicap-accessible, he said.

Doucette said some of the grant money now in hand will be used to construct a "pump station" along the trail for bicycle jumps. The trail is to run 3,300 feet from Debe Park near Mt. Pleasant Avenue down to a 200-foot-long beach at the water's edge, opposite the Great Eddy.

"I think it's a start in promoting the river as a vital asset to the Run of the River," Doucette said. "Run of the River is still a-go; we're still working on getting money for a model of the project to set it up; that's the hard one."

Skowhegan Road Commissioner Gregory Dore said an actual model of the whitewater river park is needed for final approval and permitting of the project. It would show just how and where whitewater features created by man-made boulders or other in-water flow devices would be placed in the river to create challenging stretches for boaters.

Dore said the $200,000 is an earmark from the federal government and became available when another town in Maine decided not to do their trail project and U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, D-2nd District, steered the funding to Skowhegan.

Dore has been promoting the Run of the River project for seven years, hoping to make Skowhegan a tourist destination.

The project proposes to clean up the river, restore habitat, increase public access, improve hiking trails and construct a whitewater park that organizers hope will draw boating enthusiasts from across the country.

The new trail will be constructed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act for wheelchairs and foot traffic. The walking trails on the south side, which follow the river gorge to the town's water treatment facility, are a big part of the overall project, Dore said.

"The $200,000 will be used to construct a 10-foot-wide, paved trail, which would include railing, engineering and construction of the trail," he said. "Hopefully we'll be all set to start in May. We have the money in hand; we have a project identification number and the funds have been set aside."

He said the engineering study is needed at the top of the train, where it drops down from Mt. Pleasant Avenue. The rest of it is straight trail, he said.

One of the hurdles to the entire project is the fact that two-thirds of the metal from the old walking bridge, which was destroyed in the flood of 1987, still sits on the bottom of the Kennebec River. That will have to be cleaned up before the project is ready for the public, Dore said.

BY DOUG HARLOW
Staff Writer
Kennebec Journal 9/29/09


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