AUBURN — A $34,000 grant will give New Auburn a better link to a Little Androscoggin River recreation trail.

“This piece, the piece we are going to be building, is part of a much bigger system, ultimately,” City Planner Doug Greene said. “We’d like to connect to the Riverwalk and then proceed into some other areas up above New Auburn.”

The Recreational Trails Program will pay to widen a sidewalk along Mill Street west of Main Street, connecting it to Barker Mill Trail. Plans also call for building a small parking lot at the head of the trail, just south of Barker Mill Arms.

The trail continues south along the river for about three-quarters of a mile.

Greene said the city’s new plan for New Auburn calls for a recreation path connecting the Little Androscoggin River to the Androscoggin River through the Sherwood Heights area.

Another path would connect the park behind Rolly’s Diner to the Riverwalk.

“You would cross South Main Street and work your way along the Androscoggin River north,” Greene said. “There is a much bigger trail system plan. The part we will be building is part of a much bigger system that would connect to the Riverwalk and then through New Auburn — a three- to four-mile loop, eventually.”

The Recreational Trails Program is sponsored by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and the Bureau of Parks and Lands.

Auburn would pledge to spend a matching $8,750 on the current work under the grant guidelines. Current estimates say the work will cost about $42,727 for widening Mill Street sidewalk, adding new crosswalks and benches and building the Barker Mill Trail parking area.

Greene said he expects the work to get underway in November and said it should take about a month to complete.

[email protected]