DeLand, FL – The money is now in place for a new county trail that bicyclists and hikers can use to go from Edgewater to New Smyrna’s beachside.
During Thursday’s Volusia County Council meeting, the council approved $1.4 million in ECHO funds to create a 4.5-mile trail which will connect to the current East Central Regional Rail Trail once it’s built.
The vote was unanimous, with only District 4’s Doug Daniels not voting because he wasn’t at the meeting.
The ECHO program – an acronym for Environmental, Cultural, Historical and Outdoors – was approved by county voters in 2000 to provide funds for the acquisition or construction of environmental, cultural, historic and outdoor recreation facilities for the public.
The tentative plan calls for a looping trail that links up to the East Central Regional Rail Trail at Park Avenue in Edgewater and goes through Daytona State College’s Edgewater campus, 10th Street, Magnolia Street and the North Causeway on its way to the Marine Discovery Center in New Smyrna Beach, which serves as the start and end point.
The cities of Edgewater and New Smyrna Beach will work with the county to create the trail, according to County Manager Jim Dinneen during the meeting.
The trail design and a construction timetable still need to be created, according to Volusia County Chief Engineer Gerry Brinton.
If it’s built, it would become the first beach link for the over 30 miles of trails already in place in Volusia. The county has plans to create another 40 miles or so, with most of the funding already in place through ECHO.
Brinton also noted during the meeting that some of the unfunded Volusia trails could be eligible for $25 million in annual funding from the Sun Trail program approved by the Florida Legislature earlier this year.
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