TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Plans For Trails System Have Far To Go

ADVERTISEMENT

By GEOFF FOX, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 7, 2008

DADE CITY - Like many in the audience before him Tuesday, Dade City Mayor Hutch Brock envisions a connected system of trails throughout the city and the rest of Pasco County.

"We have the Hardy Trail 50 yards behind us," he said during a public workshop at Charles McIntosh Civic Center on Church Street. "I hope it can be tied into larger trails around Dade City. It's an awesome goal, a bold goal, but one we do have.

"We're proud of what we have and would like to double, triple or quadruple it over time."

The evening workshop was coordinated by Pasco County Greenways, Trails and Blueways, a committee that works to establish a "comprehensive trail system" throughout the county and region.

Local officials and representatives with the state Department of Environmental Protection attended the meeting, along with about 40 county residents.

Tom Santa Cruz of Zephyrhills said former railroad beds could be used to establish trails connecting Dade City and Zephyrhills.

"They need something that isn't" too close to U.S. 301, he said.

Debbie Richter also said it would be good to have trails linking Zephyrhills to Dade City, as well as a trail from Dade City to San Antonio, where she lives.

"I used to ride my bike to work" in Dade City, she said. "It was about 3 miles, and it would have been much safer if there was a trail."

Tuesday night's event was preceded by a Jan. 31 workshop at Starkey Environmental Education Center at Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park in New Port Richey. Organizers said about 100 people attended last week's meeting.

Input from the workshops will be included in a plan due to Pasco County commissioners by December, said Martha Campbell, an administrative services manager with the county parks and recreation department.

"Hopefully the plan will help us go after federal and state money," she said.

The local effort is part of a regional "connectivity" campaign that possibly could link trails throughout central Florida. The purpose of the workshops was to determine where people most want trails, regardless of potential costs and other factors.

"We're working with other counties in a regional plan," said Richard Riley, a member of the Greenways, Trails and Blueways group. "We're working in a very cooperative manner."

A crossing guard at Cox Elementary School in Dade City, Patricia Deleo, said she would like to see trails near the school, around 12th Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

"There are so many kids walking and biking around there. It would be a perfect place to have one," she said.

Bicyclist David Sikes of Wesley Chapel would like to see trails connecting Dade City to the Withlacoochee Trail in Trilby, as well as a cross-county trail that would allow bicyclists to pedal from Dade City to the Pinellas Trail.

Sikes said one reason he moved to Pasco County was to take advantage of some of the scenic, bicycle-friendly roads northwest of San Antonio.

"It's hilly and gorgeous and the traffic is light," he said. "There were about 120 riders out there last weekend. It's just a cyclist's heaven. There are roads, but they're lightly traveled and the locals are good about it."

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 948-4217 or gfox@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT