BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 20, 2024
A new $60,000 bridge on an ATV trail near Strong was destroyed, and needs to be rebuilt. A trail washout in Bemis that left a 40-foot hole will cost $160,000 to fix. And it will cost more than $1 million to repair the 19 bridges damaged or washed out in the state’s motorized sports trail system. Maine’s ATV club volunteers are scrambling to repair and open trails for the season, and some won’t open at all this year. The 100-year storms, primarily in December and January, followed by more rain, left unspeakable damage to trailbeds and downed trees in their wake. Although snowmobile clubs patched a system together for the low-snow season, many of those repairs were temporary. The price tag to fix the storm damage is estimated between $6 million and $7 million.