A completed section of the ET, Milliken Mills Road, Old Orchard Beach.

Trail users in Saco have reason to be excited: the Eastern Trail is coming to town. Final design will be concluded this month, and the project will go out to bid shortly thereafter. The 4.4 mile portion of the ET will run from Milliken Mills Road in OOB south to the Thornton Academy campus, and include a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over Route One near Goosefare Brook.

Another segment of the Eastern Trail is making great progress to our south. The 6.2 mile Biddeford, Arundel and Kennebunk project began in Fall, 2009. As this is written, a pedestrian and bike bridge over the Kennebunk River is under construction. Work will begin this fall by the Maine Turnpike Authority on a bridge spanning the Turnpike, immediately north of the Kennebunk rest areas. Much of this section of the Eastern Trail -- stretching from Southern Maine Medical Center south to Rte. 35 in Kennebunk - is nearing completion, and will be available for public use in late 2010. The Turnpike bridge will open in mid-2011.

In keeping with the times and the Eastern Trail's more tech savvy fans, a new web page and an updated one have been added to Internet offerings; find all you ever wanted to know about the ET at www.etmap.org, an interactive map site; http://easterntrailmanagement.org, an on-line archive; and www.easterntrail.org, featuring the latest on the 2010 Maine Lighthouse Ride, coming in September.