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Shovels Turned For Trail Link To Park

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By B.C. MANION

bmanion@tampatrib.com

Published: November 5, 2008

NORTHDALE - The tough economy has at least one bright spot: It will cost less than anticipated to build a recreational trail linking Northdale to Lake Park.

So the long-anticipated project is under way and should be completed by spring.

County officials and Northdale residents got together at the Northdale Soccer Field last week to turn a few shovels of dirt - a symbolic launching of construction of the 1.5-mile trail.

The trail will split in different directions. One leg leads to the community's soccer field, and another heads toward 600-acre Lake Park, which has facilities for boating and fishing, picnic shelters, a bicycle motocross (BMX) track, an archery range and equestrian facilities.
Northdale residents waited 10 years for construction of the trail to begin.

Beyond getting the project rolling, county officials last week had another bit of good news.

It appears that the trail, initially slated to open next summer, will open in mid-spring, said Mark Thornton, director of the county's Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department.
Northdale resident Jeanette Howard is eager for the trail to open.

She loves to walk.

"It's just the greatest stress reliever. All of the rest of the world disappears," Howard said.

Trails offer a big plus: "You don't have to worry about the cars whizzing by," she said.
Longtime resident Chris Cook said the community began pushing for the trail in 1998. The project ran into roadblocks, he said.

Costs were higher than expected, and there were environmental issues to sort out, officials said.

The first budget for the trail was about $295,000, Cook recalled. Once the county began getting estimates, however, the figure jumped to about $1.2 million.

Thornton said the county is benefiting from fierce competition by bidders.

Typically, a job of this nature gets two or three bids, he said. This one got three dozen.

"With 36 bidders in a room for this kind of a job, it's a sign of the times," Thornton said. Instead of being more than $1 million, the project will cost $593,406.

The winning bidder was Goodwin Bros. Construction Co. of Brooksville.

To address environmental concerns, part of the trail running through wetlands will be a boardwalk. The remainder of the path will be asphalt.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan, who made a few remarks at the groundbreaking, said he learned about the community's desire for the trail in 2002 when he was campaigning door-to-door in Northdale.

He dropped by Bill Castens' house to introduce himself. Castens, then leader of the Northdale Civic Association, happened to be meeting with some association members.

"I brought him in, gave him a bottle of water," Castens recalled, and "we started hitting him up."

Ann Frisbie, now president of the civic association, said she knows people are eager to begin using the trail.

"It'll give us access to Lake Park without going out on crazy North Dale Mabry Highway," she said.

"My son and his girlfriend are talking about going and buying bikes," she said.

Reporter B.C. Manion can be reached at (813) 865-1507.

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