BELFAST - Workers pulled up much of the old track from a two-mile section of the former Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad corridor last week, clearing the way for a new a pedestrian and biking trail.

The “Passy Rail Trail,” as it is known, will not be finished until the spring, but the city is making some temporary improvements that will allow hikers and cross-country skiers to travel the unadorned rail bed. 

The trail follows the former Belfast-to-Burnham rail line north from the old Upper Bridge on High Street, skirting the west bank of the river before crossing at the narrow upper reaches and connecting with Oak Hill Road and Kaler Road by the City Point Central Railroad Museum.

The city is working with Coastal Mountains Land Trust, which had been working to connect three of its preserves on the west side of the river prior to the city’s purchase of the rail corridor in 2010. The Passy Rail Trail would abut one of these at its southern end. The two larger parcels of the Land Trust’s “Passagassawakeag Greenway” project currently remain separated from the public route by privately-owned land. 

Today the Land Trust is in the “quiet phase” of a campaign to raise the estimated $661,000 needed to build the trail, according to Development Director Kristen Lindquist, who said the money, so far, has kept pace with the work.

“We haven’t gone public with it, but it’s going well,” she said.

The tracks will all be removed within several weeks, according to city estimates, leaving the rail bed navigable by foot. The packed granite surface planned for the path itself and railings for areas where the rail bed drops off steeply are to be added in the spring. In the meantime, Lindquist said the hope is to make the full route passable in some rough form as soon as possible. 

“Our big goal is just to have people using it now and skiing it in the winter and just enjoying it.”

The most significant obstacle, and the most expensive part of the project, according to Lindquist, involves upgrades to the 100-foot-long rail trestle that crosses the river at its narrow upper reaches. The bridge has been deemed structurally sound but lacks decking to cover gaps between the cross pieces that support the rail.

While researching construction of a temporary plywood deck and rails, Belfast City Manager Joe Slocum said he found that it would be only slightly more expensive to use pressure treated lumber planks. This method, he said would be more attractive, and unlike plywood, durable enough to work for several years.

The City Council authorized Slocum to spend up to his estimate of $8,000. The temporary deck and railings would be constructed in sections and installed by the city’s public works department. Slocum proposed an eight-foot-wide path across the trestle to allow space for railing support struts. The Council indicated a preference for a 10-foot-wide crossing if it was determined that the rails could still be safely secured.

Slocum noted that the temporary decking would be slightly less elaborate but similar to the $80,000 deck proposed by project engineers.

“We’d consider it temporary, but it could last a good long time,” he said. “It would be relatively attractive and we could do it ourselves.”

The removal of the rails and ties, he said, will cost the city just $500 as a result of a deal in which the company doing the work gets to keep the rails and sell them in lieu of all but a nominal payment.

[Editor’s note: an earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the Passy Rail Trail as the “Passagassawakeag Greenway.” The Passagassawakeag Greenway is the name of a campaign by Coastal Mountains Land Trust based around three preserves located in the vicinity of the planned rail trail.] 

Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com