Information provided by Mike Pikula
A member of Friends of Amelia Island Trails
ameliaislandtrails.org
July 29, 2014 9:18 a.m.
On Thursday, July 24, the Florida Department of Transportation held a meeting at the Ribault Club on Fort George Island to receive public comment on three proposed FDOT projects.
The next trail to be developed is a segment of the Timucuan Trail project beginning at the Shad Creek Bridge on AIA near the Sandollar Restaurant. A 10′ wide paved, off-road trail is planned that will continue northward along the SE side of A1A for approximately 7/10 of a mile, and end at a road called Chapman’s Place.
The contract for this segment will go out for bids in December 2014, for completion in 2015. The estimated cost is $421,000.
Proposed Project FM #408494-3 is called the “Ft George Trailhead” and could consist of both a new road and a trail with parking and interpretive signs. The road and the trail would start at the intersection of A1A and Chapman’s Place and extend approximately 1600 feet northwestward across a spoil island and a bit of marsh to Ft George Island where it will intersect with Ft George Rd at Palmetto Av (near where the present road splits into two directions).Parking and trailhead information is proposed approximately midway along the new road.
Eventually a trail will be extended throughout Ft George Island (when funding is available). Once the new road is completed, the existing Ft George Road would be closed off into a cul-de-sac and the new road would become the single main entrance to Ft George Island. This proposal is part of a larger master plan which the National Park Service, Florida DEP (State Parks) and the City of Jacksonville have designed.
The proposed project has no “firm” start or completion dates but it is expected to start in Spring of 2016. The estimated cost is $2 million.
Proposed Project 408494-5 is called “Batten Island Wetland Restoration” and is depicted by the yellow borders. It would consist of a restoration project for DEP that will return up to 12.4 acres of a man-made spoil island back to salt marsh. This project has no firm start or completion date, but could start in spring of 2016. The estimated cost is $1 million.
When all segments are completed, the Timucuan Trail will run from the Nassau River all the way to the St John’s River Ferry. It will then cross the St Johns River using the Ferry to continue eastward to Hanna Park on the Atlantic coast. It is being completed in segments as funding becomes available.You can send comments to the project manager at [email protected] .
Thanks Mike for posting this article as this would be a great expansion. Even if you aren’t a bicyclist, touring the loop road on Fort George Island is quite interesting and this extenstion will make that loop more accessible. While about half is paved, the other is hard packed and not too bone shaking at a slow speed. While most just go to see the Ribault Club or Kingsley (McQueen) plantation, there is a lot more history to the Island. You can access a road narrative guide here: http://www.floridastateparks.org/fortgeorgeisland/doc/additionalinformation/SaturiwaTrail_Tour_Transcript.pdf to better see what all is there.