Work set to begin on trail circling Brunswick Landing
The entrance to what will become the first phase of the Brunswick Landing Perimeter Trail, starting at a parking area on Merriconeag Road. (Katie Langley/Staff Writer)
BRUNSWICK — With Town Council funding secured, Brunswick’s Parks and Recreation Department expects the first phase of construction on a long planned trail around the perimeter of Brunswick Landing to get started in a matter of months.
The first part of the so-called Perimeter Trail will extend north from a parking area on Merriconeag Road, across from the Mere Creek Golf Course, for just under 4,000 feet. Three more construction phases are yet to come before town government, but eventually, the non-motorized path will pass through 177 acres along the former Brunswick Naval Air Station property.
The plan has been in the works since 2007, around when redevelopment started at the former air base, which is now home to businesses, homes and Brunswick Executive Airport.
Last week, the Brunswick Town Council allocated roughly $404,000 for phase 1 construction. This included accepting a $250,000 grant from the Maine Trails Program and setting aside $155,000 in revenue generated from the Brunswick Landing tax increment financing district.
The southern part of the Perimeter Trail will connect to the Kate Furbish Preserve, where the town built a 7-mile trail system in the years after the Navy left Brunswick.
There are some informal trails along the perimeter already used by hikers, accessible from Merriconeag Road, Wilson Avenue and Pine Street.
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Brunswick Parks and Recreation Director Thomas Farrell said his department will put the project out for bids in fall 2026. Once chosen, the contractor should start clearing the land in the winter and get to work on the trail in spring 2027, with a goal of finishing up the first phase by June.
Farrell said the plan calls for a “universally accessible” trail, meaning that it makes every effort possible to be accessible but doesn’t necessarily meet full Americans with Disabilities Act compliance.
As far as future phases of the trail, Farrell isn’t yet able to say when they’ll be completed. The department will have to seek more funding sources and coordinate with multiple landowners, as the Navy, Bowdoin College and the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority all have interests in the area. The National Park Service is providing technical assistance for the project.
“This community has always been very supportive of these types of improvements,” Farrell said Wednesday. “I think there’s always going to be a constituency that will want to continue to ensure that this thing gets built in its full scope as it was originally intended.”
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Katie covers Brunswick, Bath and Freeport for the Times Record. She was previously the weekend reporter at the Portland Press Herald and is originally from the Hudson Valley region of upstate New York. More by Katie Langley
