Improving Connectivity of the Androscoggin Greenway Trail

In post-industrial cities, access to green spaces is often difficult to maintain. The implementation of greenway trails, marked segments following or linking natural spaces, is beneficial to communities due to the increase in spaces for outdoor recreation, public health benefits, and connecting neighborhoods in municipalities to resources using a safe and maintained public walkway. The Androscoggin Land Trust (ALT) and the City of Lewiston have identified a need for such a greenway trail along the Androscoggin River, as well as a concrete cost assessment and rubric to assess feasibility. In this report, we provide two proposed trail routes for a greenway trail in Lewiston, and a rubric for assessing the implementation of different routes along the river. Also, the report includes a table and calculations assessing the estimated cost of implementation for both trail segments, as well as a list of stakeholders who would have vested interest in the creation of a greenway trail. The criteria for feasibility of the proposed trail options is assessed using five separate criteria: adherence to the ALT goals, safety, accessibility, land use, and cost. Using these criteria, we assessed the task of connecting Lionel Potvin Park to Rancourt Preserve, with intermediary locations such as Simard-Payne Park, Veteran Park, the Tall Pines neighborhood, and the existing Androscoggin Riverside Trail. Two different trail routes are proposed, one that fulfills the criteria with a focus on ALT goals, safety, accessibility, and land use, and one that prioritizes cost over the other goals. From there, we created a chart delineating the necessary infrastructural implementations and their associated costs, and applied the costs to each proposed route. Finally, we composed a list of stakeholders in the possible construction of a greenway trail in Lewiston, including contact information and why each party might have vested interest in the project. Per our cost assessments, we have determined that a trail fully meeting the ALT goals as well as safety, accessibility, and land use criteria has an estimated cost of $1,036,590, while a more frugally constructed trail has an estimated cost of $228,864. From here, we have compiled a list of recommendations to pursue the goal of a cohesive greenway in Lewiston. It is our intention that our project will be pursued along with the revitalization of downtown Lewiston, 2 and our procedure for assessment of feasibility will be implemented by other interested organizations and parties