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Construction is beginning on two trail projects designed to improve bicycle and pedestrian access around Bonnet Springs Park and west Lakeland.
Together, the projects add important links to Lakeland’s long-sought chain of bike and pedestrian paths and represent visible progress toward a goal city leaders have discussed for years: allowing residents to travel safely between neighborhoods, schools, parks, and downtown without relying on a car.
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The Hartsell Avenue Trail will replace a 5-foot sidewalk with a 10-foot shared-use path between Sikes Boulevard and Lake Beulah Drive. The Chase Street Trail will create a 0.9-mile multi-use path connecting Strain Boulevard and Veterans Avenue near Bonnet Springs Park.
More pieces falling into place
Lakeland commissioners approved a pair of contracts on June 15 totaling about $630,000 for engineering and construction of the Hartsell project.
The 1,329-foot concrete trail will run along the east side of Hartsell Avenue, linking to the existing Lake Beulah Trail and passing R.W. Blake Academy and the Lakeland Housing Authority’s Twin Lakes community.
Construction is expected to take about 140 days, and includes roadway resurfacing, lighting modifications, curb work, signs, and pavement markings.
Public Works Engineering Manager Ryan Lazenby said it is part of the proposed Lake Hunter Trail network, which is planned to eventually extend south to Ariana Street. A section of that Lake Hunter trail, from Lime Street to the boat ramp, is scheduled to be built by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) in 2028.
Construction also began on June 15 on the nearby Chase Street Trail. The $1.385 million, 0.9-mile path from Strain Boulevard to west of Veterans Avenue will improve bicycle and pedestrian access west of Bonnet Springs Park. It is expected to be complete in January 2027.
Commissioner Stephanie Madden said the project could eventually help create safer routes between nearby neighborhoods and Bonnet Springs Park.
“All these people could have the best little walk or bike ride straight to Bonnet Springs Park entrance,” Madden said during a June 12 agenda study.
The Sloan Avenue bottleneck
Commissioners said one major obstacle remains: the narrow pass-through under the CSX railroad tracks near Sloan Avenue.
The aging bridge has only 12.5 feet of vertical clearance, instead of the recommended 16.5 feet, causing some large trucks to get stuck. The crumbling two-foot sidewalk is extremely narrow.
Madden described the current route as unsafe. “You have to take your life in your hands, and I do,” she said, referring to biking through the existing opening.
But any major improvement would require cooperation from CSX, and Madden expressed frustration, saying the railroad “does not want to improve” the crossing.
At Monday’s meeting, she said if the city gets only one realistic chance to improve a CSX crossing, it should be to fix the Sloan Avenue underpass.
“Getting folks to Bonnet Springs Park from that neighborhood would be absolutely my top priority,” she said.
David Bunch, one of the visionaries behind the privately funded 168-acre park — which USA Today named the nation’s best last year — has been saying the same thing since it opened in 2022.
“If you were to run a ‘walk score’ on Bonnet Springs Park, it would fail. We’ve built a world-class park in the middle of the city that you have to drive to. That’s unforgivable,” he told LkldNow.
During Friday’s agenda study, city staff estimated that widening or rebuilding the Sloan Avenue underpass could cost about $20 million and would likely require state assistance and prioritization through the Transportation Planning Organization.
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