JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Bicyclists, joggers and walkers who travel along Heckscher Drive could soon have a safer way to get through a stretch where the walking and biking path currently ends.
The Florida Department of Transportation is building a 12-foot-wide shared-use path designed to connect the trail at Huguenot Memorial Park to the trail near the Fort George River Bridge, creating a continuous route where people have long had to share the road as a bicyclist or drive over.
FDOT says the project will close a gap between two ends of the Timucuan Trail, a connection that many in the cycling community have asked for.
“Right now FDOT is building a shared-use path, which is a paved path, and it’ll stretch from Huguenot Memorial Park … up to the Fort George River Bridge,” said Renata Di Gregorio, FDOT’s communications officer for the Heckscher Drive project. “A lot of the cycling community is actually really excited about this because it’s connecting two ends … on either end of the Timucuan Trail.”
FDOT says the new path is expected to improve safety along a corridor where cyclists and pedestrians have had limited options.
“We’re really expecting this project to enhance safety,” said Di Gregorio.
People who spend time in the area told News4JAX they believe the project could help residents and visitors — especially those who don’t have reliable transportation — move around more safely.
Sherry Gladwin, who said she fishes in the area several times a week, said the path could provide a safer alternative for people who currently travel the road by bike or on foot.
“A lot of them don’t have transportation, and that would give them another avenue … and it’d be safer,” Gladwin said. She added that people often fish near bridges because they feel safer there, but a dedicated path could help them reach other spots without being so close to traffic.
FDOT said the project has been a long time coming.
“This has actually been in the works for a really long time,” Di Gregorio said. “There’s been plans that have been going now for more than a decade.”
Di Gregorio said FDOT hopes the completed path encourages more people to spend time outdoors in the area.
“This area is really beautiful,” she said. “So people can come enjoy it and, of course, be safe and comfortable walking and biking doing so.”
The $5.6 million project is expected to wrap up early next year.
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