INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — After two years of toil, Indian River County planners and officials have finally completed and opened the newest segment of the Trans-Florida Railroad Trail – a 2-mile segment that runs through the west end of Sebastian through Sebastian River Middle School’s property along County Road 512 and ends just west of the North County Aquatics Center.
The path, which consists of recycled asphalt millings, is firm yet has some give. Mountain bikes would have an easier time than regular bikes traversing the trail.
The $207,000 project was mostly funded through a Florida Department of Environmental Protection grant. Indian River County kicked in a little money, but mostly matched the grant with labor and materials, according to Metropolitan Planning Organization Staff Director Phil Matson.
This was the first time the county received a grant through the DEP’s Recreational Trails program.
Sebastian Parks and Recreation member Joann White said that she recently happened upon the recently completed trail and wondered where it led. Detouring from her planned route, she took the new trail and found it enjoyable.
Commissioner Wesley Davis told those who assembled at the trail outside the middle school that the trail was once a supply line not only for settlers of old, but also for students, such as himself and his friends. They would leave school and take the trail down to a convenience store.
“It feels like you’re a million miles away” in Old Florida, Davis said of walking the trail, though you’re not far off CR 512.
The next phase for the trail is a pedestrian crossing at Intestate 95 – whether over or under the highway has yet to be determined – and following the old railroad bed through Fellsmere out to what is to become the National Elephant Center.
Matson said the Florida Department of Transportation has committed funding for the I-95 crossing in 2015 and he expects the trail to be through Fellsmere in 2016.
