Loring trail promises to link up Back Cove, Bayside
Friends of Eastern Prom await $35,000 for Loring trail
As Steve Head walked his chocolate Lab mix, Melosa, from Loring Memorial Circle to the Eastern Promenade Trail Monday, the pair clambered down a dirt path laced with treacherous patches of ice.
With one wrong step, the descent could result in a nasty fall. Still, this link from Munjoy Hill to the Eastern Promenade Trail and other walking and biking areas is popular with people like Head. He lives near the base of Munjoy Hill but walks his dog to the Back Cove, taking advantage of this shortcut from the Eastern Promenade.
Melosa the Lab is also a fan of the little connector and the trails beyond.
"She likes it," he said.
Welcome to what some advocates hope becomes one of the next formal links in the city's growing urban trails system.
The group Friends of Eastern Promenade wants to keep this link in place but needs a grant to create a formal trail rather than a "wear path" down the hill. The group in January took a step toward that goal, earning the blessings of the Portland Historic Preservation Board.
That's important because the Eastern Promenade, including Loring Circle, is a designated Historic Landscape District under the city's historic preservation ordinance. On Jan. 20, the Friends received clearance from the Portland Historic Preservation Board with a certificate of appropriateness for trail construction.
Now, members are waiting to see if they will receive a $35,000 Maine Department of Conservation, Recreational Trail Development Grant.
"If all goes well, we should hopefully be shovel ready by late spring, early summer," said Diane Davison, president of Friends of Eastern Promenade.
Portland Trails is expected to handle project management, she said.
The 550-foot trail is expected to undergo the same kind of conversion that occurred last summer at Fort Allen Park on the opposite end of the Eastern Promenade. At Fort Allen Park,Friends of Eastern Promenade and Portland Trails teamed up with other partners and used a $25,000 grant to install 40 granite steps and replace a rough, steep bushwhacked path reaching from the historic park downhill to the Eastern Promenade Trail. The new trail was christened last fall and eagerly received by recreationists.
This time, the goal is to build a link from Loring Circle at the western end of the Eastern Promenade to the Eastern Promenade Trail below.
"There's currently a really steep, eroded 'wear path' that isn't very safe," Davison explained. "We'll be realigning it to make it safer, more pedestrian friendly and open it up to more users."
Fewer granite steps will be involved, Davison said, but again the groups will make use of recycled curbing provided by the city, she said.
The Maine Conservation Corps is one of the groups that will "help get us started and kick it off," Davison said.
The recreational benefits are manifest, Davison said.
"Because this comes out at the Eastern Prom trail below, it also will hook up with the new Bayside Trail that's currently under construction and the Back Cove Trail. ... So it's really a four-way pedestrian plaza," she said.
Ecologically, because of the wear of the path that's currently in use, there's an erosion problem as well, Davison said.
The bottom of the trail is a crossroads for hikers and bicyclers.
The Back Cove Trail connects to the Eastern Promenade Trail under nearby Tukey's Bridge. The Bayside Trail, now under construction, will connect the Eastern Promenade Trail to Deering Oaks park, "passing through the heart of the redeveloping Bayside district along the former railroad alignment," the historic preservation staff noted in meeting materials.
The top of the trail is reached through a small memorial park. Loring Memorial Circle is devoted to Major Charles J. Loring Jr., who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism in the Korean War. He died Nov, 22, 1952, at Sniper Ridge, North Korea, according to a monument in his honor.
INSET
Eastern Prom Trail — 2.1 miles
This waterfront trail built along an old rail corridor offers spectacular harbor and ocean views. Benches and picnic tables are located along the route and at East End Beach. ... Parallel paved and stone dust trails follow the water's edge. The mostly flat slope has a small rise near the Portland Water District treatment plant, and another near Tukey's Bridge, where it connects to the Back Cove Trail. ...The trailhead can be accessed at the corner of Commercial and India streets. To reach the East End Beach parking area, descend from Fort Allen Park down Cutter Street to the parking area.
Back Cove Trail — 3.5 miles
One of the oldest and most popular of the trails in Portland, this beautiful loop around Portland 's Back Cove offers great views of the Portland skyline. Ideal for walking, running, biking and dog walking. There are benches and two water fountains (seasonal) along the trail. Portable toilets are available in the parking areas at Preble Street Extension and Payson Park.
(SOURCE: Portland Trails)
