It is true that there are many — many — more important and urgent debates to be conducted at the state Legislature than Maine’s years-old “rail versus trail” wrangling.

With that said, and with care to avoid any solemn “long and winding” analogies or references to progress “chugging along” such that “the way can finally be paved,” we’ll express our firm support for the passage last week in Augusta of two trail development bills, LD 29 and LD 30. The advancement of both is the result of hard work by advocates of outdoor recreation in our state.

LD 30, which proposed the replacement of the abandoned rail line connecting Portland and Auburn with a multiuse pedestrian trail — the Casco Bay Trail — was supported by the mayors of both cities in a May 2 op-ed in these pages. 

“Economically, trails bring real dollars into local businesses,” wrote Mark Dion (Portland) and Jeffrey Harmon (Auburn). The mayors continued to paint a lively, evidence-based picture of what they believe could be.

“The nearby Eastern Trail has resulted in an annual economic impact valued at $44 million. The Casco Bay Trail’s financial assessments anticipate the infusion of $3.5 million to $5.3 million into the local economy arising from trail-related spending from users — cyclists stopping for coffee, families out for lunch, outdoor enthusiasts visiting from other regions.”

Mainers up and down the state are fortunate to be familiar with these sights and sounds, sustained by the world-class natural beauty of our surroundings, picking up again in the fine weather of recent days and and promoted in recent years by the limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic — which succeeded in driving many of us to the great outdoors.

The second promising trail bill, LD 29, provides for the conversion to trail of a rail line between Brunswick and Gardiner (much of that line dormant and unmaintained since 1986), as well as a section farther north, connecting Pembroke and Calais.

The primary argument against the creation of trails along rail corridors has been in faithful favor of the revival of rail.

Writing in favor of a Brunswick-Gardiner trail two years ago, this editorial board explored the meaning of the legal requirement that trail installation on Maine’s rail lines be “interim” in nature, “removing the train tracks — which could be put to use elsewhere  — with the understanding that rail could be restored along the corridor at any time that becomes viable.”

The viability of passenger rail in Maine, while hotly and persuasively defended, is still grimly theoretical.

There is no doubt at all that a forward-looking Maine would benefit greatly from robust networks of both rail and trail. But concerns about wasting money or squandering potentially useful infrastructure overlook a yearslong lack of official — if not public — will for the establishment of transformational rail service in our car-first state.

On balance, then, and after all this time, the compelling element of an interim trail, definitionally, is that the corridors themselves remain intact — while being put to use.

Thinking along these lines, Rep. Dan Ankeles, D-Brunswick, generated a needed sense of urgency in recent remarks to a reporter.

“Make no mistake — the best and highest use of these failed rail lines are these trails,” Ankeles said. “If we fail to adopt this report, we will not get rail with trail. What we will get is a guarantee that nothing will ever happen at all on these lines except decay, abandonment and the squandering of potential in Washington, Sagadahoc and Kennebec counties. In short, economic blight.”

The question of funding this trail development is far from settled. That fact brings us to another compelling reason for Maine to persevere with this vision: A recreational trail is, mercifully, not something that generally falls foul of party politics or ideological antagonism. It is a widely and warmly accepted public good. In 2025, these spots of enthusiastic consensus can feel scarce indeed.

It may be that a creative mix of public and private sources must be relied upon to incrementally finance these trail projects. That contingency doesn’t deter us; according to a 2019 survey on behalf of the Maine Trails Coalition, six in 10 Mainers used Maine trails in the prior year — and half of that number said they did so more than 10 times. Six of seven people polled, and a majority of every demographic and political group in Maine, supported the idea of “trails until rails.”

These trails pay off. They please constituents and businesses alike. Let’s start bringing them into being.