THE BONITA ESTERO RAIL TRAIL - TRANSFORMATION OF A REGION
Eleven schools serving over 10,000 students are within one mile of the planned BERT corridor . The trail will give an immediate boost to efforts to provide Safe Routes to Schools to keep our children safe . Trails also benefit the community by providing safe areas for recreation as well as transportation for bicycle commuters . While there are different types of paved trails , those developed as rail trails provide increased safety benefit by generally having fewer intersecting driveways and roads compared to other types . This reduces the number of potential conflict points and , by extension , the opportunities for collisions .
HEALTH
Trails can be an important component of a community ’ s public health strategy . Close proximity to a public paved multi-use trail provides a free facility for people to access active transportation and healthy recreation through walking and biking . This is particularly important considering the high rates of obesity in our communities . In 2019 , 62 % of Lee County residents and 63.9 % of Collier County residents were considered overweight or obese ( Source : Florida Department of Health ). Trails are an important part of the solution :
• In a review of research , the American Heart Association found that for every $ 1 invested in building trails , nearly $ 3 in medical cost savings can be achieved .
• A 2014 study highlighted in the American Journal of Public Health identified a direct correlation between how close people live to biking and walking infrastructure and the amount of weekly exercise they get .
Once completed , BERT will be transformational to help increase opportunities for healthy activity . The Trust for Public Land estimates that nearly 70,000 people are within a 10-minute bike ride of the rail corridor that will become BERT . This will provide immediate opportunity for our residents to access a trail where safe biking and walking alternatives are more limited today .
ENVIRONMENTAL
Establishing a multiuse trail along the rail corridor will also provide many environmental benefits .
BERT will provide trail users access to natural areas and features along its route . For example , 95 % of the 238-acre corridor is wooded and runs through or near several parks . The corridor traverses along lakes and crosses many streams and rivers including four major tributaries – the Imperial River , Oak Creek , Spring Creek , and the Estero River . Features like these can be the focus of informational kiosks that interpret their benefits and purpose . By extension , exposure to resources like these helps to engender greater support for their long-term protection .
Completion of the BERT pathway will also increase the opportunities to preserve and restore environmentally sensitive land that runs along the corridor . Construction of the trail will also provide for the chance to mitigate existing water flow obstructions to better manage stormwater runoff and reduce localized flooding .
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