SPRINGVALE — There are a lot of trails around Sanford and Springvale village, but those familiar with the trail system say one big thing has been lacking: Until now, there hasn’t been much space for folks who need to drive to a trail head to park their vehicles. That includes the city-owned railroad bed trail ”“ the only motorized trail in the system ”“ where there has been no place for trucks to offload four-wheelers and access the trail.

Now, there is.

Armed with an array of grant money and in-kind services from the city, Sanford Trail Committee has transformed an overgrown, neglected city lot at the intersection of Pleasant Street, which is Route 224, and Railroad Avenue into a gravel parking area and a space planted with trees and shrubs.

And while some are referring to the landscaped area as a park, trail committee members view it more as a landscaped area to complement the parking lot. The landscaping encompasses about a third of the lot.

The trail committee has been eyeing the property for some time, and city grant writer and trail committee member Lee Burnett wrote grants for funding to create parking and spruce up the lot a couple of years ago. Trail committee chairman Hazen Carpenter designed the parking area, landscaped space, and fenced area.

“We’re very excited. Now we have a place for trail access and it has certainly enhanced the area,” said Carpenter, who said Parks and Recreation director Marcel Blouin came up with a name for the property, “Depot Trail Head.”

The lot had previously been a tumble of overgrown grass and weeds on some parts, and potholes in others. Dirt bikes, four wheelers and snowmobiles drove through it willy-nilly.

On Thursday, employees of H.A. Stone were working on the fencing that will more clearly define the railroad trail itself through the space. STS Construction of Lebanon was the low bidder for the earthwork, and Springvale Nurseries supplied the maple trees, flowering pears, lilacs and shrubs like weigela, viburnum and coralberry.

Carpenter pointed out the railroad bed trail runs to Shaw’s Ridge in one direction, and to the Lebanon town line in another. Between the city trails and the Kiwanis Mousam Way Trails, Sanford has about 20 miles of trails, Carpenter estimated.

Burnett said the parking lot and landscaped area are the beginning of intended improvements to the railway bed trail. There’s a request in to the Maine National Guard’s engineering unit to make design, erosion control and other improvements to the trail from Hanson’s Ridge to Lebanon, he said. As well, landowner Richard Shaw has given permission to improve a non-motorized trail through his property.

Grants to improve the Depot Trail Head came from the trails program of the state Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, the William Oscar Emery Trust and Project Canopy, with the city providing in-kind services.

Burnett pointed out that originally, the railroad bed sported granite markers, usually with a “P” for Portland or a “W” for Worcester, Massachusetts on them, and a number representing the mileage to those cities. Over the years, the markers fell into private hands, with folks using them as landscape features in their own yards. He said the trails committee plans to write the owners, in the hopes they’ll return the markers for use on the trail.

The final touches, including signs to mark the entrance and the exit, are expected to be complete next week.

Carpenter said the Depot Trail Head will be open dawn to dusk. And he said, so far, those who have been riding through it have been courteous. Neighbors, he said, have told him they enjoy the improved view of the parking area and landscaping.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].