NORWAY – Western Maine Health Vice President of Clinical Services M. Patricia Cook announced recently work is scheduled to begin at the end of May on the new Riverside Trail.

The trail is to be developed with a $160,000 grant from the New Balance Foundation to Western Maine Health designated for construction and future activities.

The Riverside Trail will connect the Viking Trail at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School and the trail at the Oxford Hills Middle School.

When completed, the trail will be suitable for multiple outdoor activities, be wheelchair-accessible and stroller friendly and the site of ongoing physical activity programs for the community.

Trail work will be coordinated by Healthy Oxford Hills and completed in two sections, with much of the construction and labor being done by the Maine Conservation Corps field teams.

The teams have been carrying out conservation projects for more than two decades, working in areas from Grafton Notch State Park to Acadia National Park.

Teams generally consist of six individuals who will work four 10-hour days a week for 14 to 16 weeks until the project is complete. The group will camp in the area during that time.

The work on the first part of the trail will require heavy equipment and will be done by local contractors.

In celebration of National Trails Day, Saturday, June 2, Western Maine Health and Healthy Oxford Hills will coordinate a volunteer trail clean-up from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Families and friends will gather at the Viking Trail head located near the high school parking lot. Water, plastic bags and plastic gloves will be provided.

Additional volunteer opportunities for trail clean-up as well as assisting the corps staff will be announced as soon as the team has time to assess the construction site and formalize their plans.