By early 2023, there will be an Osceola County trail that will connect walkers, joggers and bikers to the two Lake Tohos.
During an online webinar Thursday night, Osceola County’s Transportation and Transit Department and builder KCG Engineering of Orlando presented major parts of a plan to build the 1.5-mile Kissimmee-St. Cloud Connector Trail. Federal funds dispersed by the Florida Department of Transportation will be used; $326,000 for design and $3.4 million for construction, budgeted for the 2022-23 fiscal year.
The trail will be built on the eastern St. Cloud side of the C-31 canal and connect development on Neptune Road to Lakeshore Boulevard. It will start near Partin Triangle Park and work its way along the canal to an improved intersection of Lakeshore and Brown Chapel Road, which will finally get a traffic light thanks to the project.
The trail will be 14 feet wide in most places, except for a few spots where the right of way narrows to eight feet. From Partin Triangle Park, the trail will go north and use a lighted underpass to cross U.S. 192. Beyond that it will pass by the ruins of an old sugar mill owned by area pioneer Hamilton Disston over 100 years ago. After passing just west of the Blackberry Creek subdivision, the trail will veer to the right to follow public right of way to Brown Chapel and Lakeshore, then make its way along Lakeshore toward St. Cloud Lakefront Park.
Conroy Jacobs of the Transportation and Transit Department said Thursday the goal is to build a community enhancement that is fun and enjoyable, but sensitive to residents who live in the residential area that will back up to it. So public input is important. If you could not view Thursday’s webinar, you can view the project details online and provide input to Jacobs, the project manager, at Conroy.jacobs@osceola.org or by phone at 407-742-0557.
This project is strictly for the trail. It will not make the canal a navigable waterway for boats between the two lakes.
