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Foreground, Bike Florida founder Linda Crider, cycling on tour at the town of Ponce Inlet, across the inlet from New Smyrna Beach. (photo by John Moran)


 W


State commits $125 million for trail network as advocates and planners make compelling case for more investment By Herb Hiller


e were beyond sight of industrial sheds down the slope to a pond


 marsh hung in the water. Tall cabbage palms topped a greenway that trailed the edge. We passed through a canopied  still.


Once, miles of wetlands ran the length of St. Lucie County between the coastal ridge and a tree line to the west. Railroad tracks and subdivi- sions have since hemmed in the native perimeter. Yet, while several agencies manage the remnant, it exists whole for anyone traveling the East Coast Greenway in slow passage through   now vied in a category of short trails eligible to share in more than $40 mil- lion of new SUN Trails money. The sum was one third of a breakthrough


$125 million authorized by the 2014 Legislature. The other two-thirds were already committed to two longer regional trails. This piece through Savannas Preserve State Park was one of four short-trail nominations that St. Lucie alone was preparing. Dozens more were expected from around the State. The rush was on by advocates for the new money, and by transpor- tation planners for SUN Trails’ long- term promise.


These short-trail nominations for a moment marked the outer policy lim-  That rise began in 1980 when Gov. Bob -   transportation culture. He positioned Burden in DOT instead of parks. A  Trails with an advisory Greenways and Trails Council for prioritizing a


14 SUMMER 2016 AmericanTrails.org


system of statewide trails followed. In 2008, American Trails awarded charter  in America. Six years later, an early Burden ally, Billy Hattaway, now a DOT district secretary, took up the ad- ditional mandate as Complete Streets administrator for all seven districts. In 2013, as new legislative funding  - tor Jim Wood as its director of policy planning. SUN Trails money— the acronym stands for Shared-Use Nonmotor-    impact fees and ad valorem taxes mostly underwrote trails. DOT did sometimes include trails in roadway makeovers. State funds were other- wise allocated from large pools of doc- umentary stamp revenues set aside for


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