J. Kyle Foster | Naples Daily News
The Bonita Estero Rail to Trail will include construction of a 12-foot-wide asphalt path for almost 15 miles, looking similar to paths in Baker Park in Naples.
After four years of negotiations, Seminole Gulf Railway has agreed to sell its 14.9-mile Bonita-Estero rail corridor for a public pedestrian and biking trail.Lee County and its municipalities, and Collier County if it chooses, have until March 2026 to come up with the $82 million agreed upon price brokered by the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit that works to connect people to outdoor spaces, said Deborah Orton, president of Friends of Bonita Estero Rail to Trail.
The Bonita Estero Rail to Trail – called BERT – would run from just south of the Lee Collier County border to Alico Road through downtown Bonita Springs and Estero ending just north of San Carlos Park at Alico Road. The trail will connect to Lee County’s John Yarborough Trail to the north and the planned Paradise Coast Trail to the south in Collier County.
Seminole Gulf Railway has agreed to sell its 14.9-mile Bonita-Estero Rail Corridor for a public trail in Lee County.
“This isn’t an isolated 15-mile piece of land,” said Doug Hattaway, Southeast Region conservation director at Trust for Public Land. “It’s going to connect to a statewide trail network.”Read the full article on naplesnews.com.
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