LEWISTON — The city will pay $50,000 to study extending Amtrak rail service from Portland to the Twin Cities.
Councilors voted 5-2 Tuesday night to back a $400,000 Maine Department of Transportation analysis of rail market demand of the new line, a service plan, new construction needed, ways to pay for the work and potential environmental impacts and alternatives.
The study was approved by the Maine Legislature and requires Lewiston and Auburn each to pay a $50,000 share. Auburn councilors are expected to vote on the matter before Nov. 1.
“Our legislative delegation worked very hard to get state money to fund 80 percent of this study,” Councilor Nate Libby said. “It will lay out the steps to bring the train 18 miles up the track to Lewiston-Auburn and reconnect us with train service.”
Darby Ray, director of the Harward Center for Community Partnerships at Bates College, said regular train service between L-A and Portland would be a good recruiting tool for the school. The college regularly hires faculty and staff who choose to live in Portland, where their spouses work.
“I firmly believe that more faculty and staff would consider locating here — especially as property values skyrocket down there — sending their spouse down on the train to Portland,” she said. “I think we need to study this to move forward.”
Councilors agreed to pay Lewiston’s share of the study out of money left over from the road and utilities development of Gendron Business Park. They also agreed to pay for two other programs with that money: a $5,000 matching grant for L/A Arts to study arts and culture and $20,000 to the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council for a grant to pay for marketing.
Councilor Leslie Dubois said her frustration with paying for studies was why she voted against the rail study funding.
“We have a lot of studies and plans,” she said. “What I’d like to actually see is for us to pick one of those plans and spend money on implementing it, rather than spending more money on more plans.”
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