Commissioners said they could go only so far in spending taxpayer money to improve the pathway. A cyclist maneuvers in traffic at the intersection of State Road 434 and Orange Avenue in Altamonte Springs on Jan. 14. By
A years-old plan by Seminole County to build a pair of tunnels along a popular trail near Altamonte Springs — giving bicyclists and pedestrians an easy way to cross under two of the busiest highways in Central Florida — may be dead after commissioners glimpsed the estimated price tag.
“The idea of the tunnels then was a fun and exciting alternative that would be safe. And I think the citizens would love it,” Commissioner Lee Constantine said at Tuesday’s board meeting. “But sometimes you can’t have everything you want. And in this case, knowing all that I know now, I could never, ever, even consider it, with all the other needs in this county.”
Constantine made the comments after a county staff presentation showed constructing the underpasses along the Seminole Wekiva Trail at State Road 436 and Laurel Street, and at State Road 434 and Orange Avenue, would cost nearly $40 million.
That’s a 14% jump from January 2022, when commissioners enthusiastically approved the subterranean passages for trail users to bypass eight lanes of traffic at each intersection.
Seminole officials and residents have long lauded their county’s network of recreational trails giving cyclists, runners and hikers a stress-free way to travel, mostly without worrying about cars.
The Seminole Wekiva Trail is one of the county’s most popular […]
Continue reading the original article at: www.tampabay.com