From Maine to Florida voters voice strong support for trails

After an election season full of division, voters along the East Coast Greenway corridor delivered a clear and unified message by directly supporting state and local bonds funding safer streets and enhanced trails and parks from Maine to Florida.

“These divided times are a reminder that trails and outdoor access bring people together,” said East Coast Greenway Executive Director Dennis Markatos-Soriano. “Communities from Maine to Florida voiced strong support for state and local investments in health and shared prosperity that will benefit all of us for generations.”

Voters in Maine, Rhode Island, North Carolina and Florida approved up to $466 million in investments for these vital initiatives.

In Maine, citizens passed the first-ever Maine Trails Bond, allocating $30 million to repair heavily used or damaged trails, expand and connect trails, and create new trails and accessible outdoor spaces for everyone statewide. The Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands will administer $30 million over four years ($7.5 million per year) in competitive grant funding to towns, organizations and clubs. 

“It's clear that Maine people deeply value the outdoors. It's part of our way of life. This vote shows how committed we are to preserving and enhancing that. I think this is truly a historic investment in outdoor recreation,” Jenny Kordick of Maine Outdoor Brands told Maine Public.

Also in New England, support for outdoor recreation passed in Rhode Island in the form of an Environmental and Recreational Infrastructure Bond Measure. The 2024 Green Bond allocates $53 million in bonds for environmental-related infrastructure, local recreation projects and for preservation of land. Of these funds, $5 million will go to 80% “matching grants for municipalities to acquire, develop or rehabilitate local recreational facilities to meet the growing needs for active outdoor recreational facilities.”

In Durham, North Carolina, home of the East Coast Greenway Alliance headquarters, voters passed two bonds that will secure up to $200 million to fund vital improvements to the city’s parks, sidewalks and streets.

“Durham is doing what we need to do to take care of Durham,” Mayor Leonardo Williams told The News & Observer. “We’re getting safer streets. We’re getting safer sidewalks. We’re getting better parks.”

Passage of these bonds will indirectly free up nearly $10 million for East Coast Greenway projects in the Bull City, including $6 million for the much-anticipated Downtown Durham Rail Trail and $2.5 million for corridor acquisition for the Durham-to-Roxboro Rail Trail.

Durham City Council member Carl Rist told CBS 17, “We have a good sidewalk network and path network, [but] it’s not great. It’s patchy. I’m excited to see those gaps being filled in on sidewalks and pathways.”

In Florida, a Martin County Referendum to Protect Water Quality, Natural Areas and Wildlife Habitat was approved by nearly 64% of voters. The “Martin County Forever” measure establishes a half-cent sales tax, which could raise $183 million total over 10 years, for the purchase and conservation of natural lands, including recreational trails like the East Coast Greenway.

“At the East Coast Greenway Alliance, our team is dedicated to building on this momentum, working toward our ultimate goal: a safe active transportation network through both the rural and urban areas of the Eastern Seaboard,” Markatos-Soriano said.