KENNEBEC JOURNAL • May 4, 2025
State lawmakers could soon approve a rail trail almost two decades in the making, providing a potentially crucial economic and recreational link along the Kennebec, Cathance and Androscoggin rivers. Lawmakers on the joint transportation committee voted 11-2 on April 15 to recommend allowing construction of the 33.5-mile Merrymeeting Trail, sending the project to a potential vote in front of the full state Legislature, where the fate of the trail hangs in the balance. The trail would replace the existing state-owned Lower Road railroad tracks connecting Brunswick to Augusta. The line hasn’t been used consistently since the 1980s, but the corridor would be preserved for rail in the future, per state law.