A portion of the Whistle Stop Trail in Jay will remain closed until snow accumulates so contractors can continue installing a new sewer line beside it. Sun Journal file photo
JAY — The partial closure of the multipurpose, state-owned Whistle Stop Trail, with one section closed completely, will continue to allow contractors to proceed with the installation of the town’s new sewer line. The sewer line is being installed beside about 2½ miles of the trail leased by the town.
Jay was given permission by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to extend the deadline for work to continue past Friday, the original deadline, according to town Sewer Department Superintendent Mark Holt.
The new deadline is based on snow accumulation on the rail trail which may vary, Holt wrote in an email Friday.
The portion of the rail trail from Old Jay Hill Road, at the bottom of Jay Hill, to the Jay Plaza will stay closed from 7 a.m. Monday until 5 p.m. Thursday. The exception is that portion of the trail will be open on Monday, Veterans Day, and for Thanksgiving Day.
About one mile of the rail trail will remain closed at all times from the Old Jay Hill Road, at the bottom of Jay Hill, to the crossing in North Jay Village, near My Dad’s Place. A detour for rail trail traffic will remain in place that runs along the right of side of Old Jay Hill Road from near the Lucarelli Road intersection to near the Mountain View Road intersection. The speed limit for ATVs along this detour route is 15 mph.
The town is installing a new pump station, force main and 19,000 feet of sewer pipe that will send sewage from North Jay to an existing collection system at Jay Plaza, and then on to the Livermore Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The 14-mile trail runs from Jay to Farmington and connects to other trails.
The Whistle Stop Trail, which was once a railroad line, was purchased by the state for recreational purposes on Oct. 29, 1999, for $198,000 with money made available from the state’s Land for Maine’s Future program.
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