New link completes long-awaited section of trail
Expanding and improving multimodal transportation has become a major focus in Florida , and the new link to the Fred . E . Marquis Pinellas Trail that was part of the Keystone Road expansion is a huge step toward that end in the western part of the state .
“ We get a huge amount of people who use the trail for multimodal transportation ,” said Joseph DeMoss , engineering support services supervisor for Pinellas County . “ We ’ re trying to loop the entire county with that trail .”
The more than 42 miles of the Pinellas Trail extends from St . Petersburg in the south to Tarpon Springs in the north , connecting county parks , coastal areas , and many cities .
“ The Pinellas Trail is very heavily used ,” DeMoss said . “ It ’ s nationally recognized . People from all over come just to ride on the trail . It ’ s an economic generator , and this northern piece was a long time coming .”
The 15-foot asphalt path runs approximately 2 miles on the project ’ s north side . The trail was on the County ’ s to-do list for a long time , DeMoss said . The new section linked what was a 2.7-mile separation between a section of trail east of US 19 and a 4-mile segment near Keystone Road along East Lake Road to near John Chestnut Park .
The Florida Department of Transportation has long-term plans to connect the Pinellas Trail into what is being called the Coast to Coast Connector . Once it ’ s completed , the project would eventually be an estimated 275 miles of continuous trails stretching from St . Petersburg on the western coast to Canaveral National Seashore near Titusville on the eastern shore .
– Eric Widholm
solved efficiently , and the overall team worked well together .
“ We were out there every day , so you don ’ t realize all the improvements that were made ,” he said . “ But you look back at before and after pictures and realize just how much it has changed .”
Some utilities under Keystone Road were more than 50 years old . During construction the contractor discovered that older utilities crossed or were not accurately marked in previous plans . With the mass of stormwater improvements and retaining walls required for the project , finding new routes for the utilities also was a challenge .
The project included eight stormwater retention ponds , 31 retaining walls , and more than 6 miles of drainage pipes up to 72 inches in size to control stormwater runoff , as well as sanitary sewer , overhead distribution and transmission lines , underground gas mains , and underground fiber optic cables .
“ It was just like a spaghetti of lines under this road – spaghetti lines of 30-inch and 48-inch pipes ,” said Dori Sabeh , Ayres Associates ’ lead designer for that portion of the project .
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