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Town manager outlines multi-part vision: sidewalks, rail-trail pieces and a community-center site
Summary
Topsham's town manager presented existing and proposed bike/ped connections, described a recent culvert project that enabled new sidewalk space on Tedford Road, discussed rail-trail options including the possibility of removing a railroad trestle, and identified a 20-acre town parcel near the fairgrounds as a potential community-center site that could serve as a trailhead if a right-of-way is secured.
Town Manager Waltz told the Bicycle & Pedestrian Committee that the town has existing sidewalks and several potential projects that could incrementally build a bike-and-pedestrian network in eastern Topsham.
Waltz highlighted a recently upgraded culvert on Tedford Road that, together with voluntary easements from adjacent property owners, allows the town to add six feet so a sidewalk can be constructed without taking private property. He noted that the town's preliminary design work shows the Tedford Road project will likely require drainage and some road rebuilding and that conceptual costs have risen from about $200,000 to an estimated $1.5 million once full design and drainage are considered.
Waltz also outlined the rail-trail debate: state legislation envisions bike-and-pedestrian use of a former rail corridor, but earlier local discussions had considered multiuse options (ATV, equestrian). Waltz said the final legislation restricted the corridor to bicycles and pedestrians and that towns may need to build the trail in pieces as funding becomes available. He raised the possibility of removing an existing railroad trestle to connect the trail to Elm Street and the Marramine Bridge, a step that drew pushback from neighboring Brunswick representatives who favor rehabilitating the trestle for a direct crossing.
On long-term land planning, Waltz described a roughly 20-acre town-owned parcel between the fairgrounds and the bypass as a potential community-center site. The town has about $400,000 set aside from a Highland Green development condition that could be used toward a crossing or connection, but Waltz said that amount would not fund a full grade-separated crossing and that multiple agreements and further funding would be required to realize a trailhead or community center there.
Waltz urged committee members to consider demonstration projects such as Winter Street and Mallet Drive for traffic-calming trials and to provide input during the forthcoming engineering-design RFP process for Tedford Road. He said the RFP for final engineering will be issued soon and will define the construction scope, winter-maintenance constraints (minimum five-foot width to accommodate plow equipment) and the detailed budget requirements.
