BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 26, 2022
Miles of old roads that have been designated as abandoned or discontinued wind through every town and county in rural Maine. People live along some of them and others drive over them in snowmobiles, all terrain vehicles and heavy trucks. In fact, according to state law, most are still publicly accessible via an easement. That leaves those who live on those roads in a lurch. Since no one is responsible for the upkeep of Maine’s abandoned and discontinued roads, the roads often become hotly contested, pitting those who live on them against those who want to use them for recreation and commerce.