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'Trail' Update: Public Offers Input On Future Alignment, State Stop Work Order

    The public gathered with Lake County officials and recreation enthusiasts on Tuesday, September 15, to discuss potential recreational roads through the Tavares, Eustis, and Umatilla areas.  Meeting at the Eustis Community Center, officials displayed information regarding potential alignments, with the community invited to go to an online site to provide feedback.
    The county trails plan has come under increased scrutiny recently, both from residents, elected representatives, and state officials.  A section in Umatilla running from East Collins Street to Mary Street has been under a stop work order from the Florida Department of Transportation for several weeks, due to design issues.  Contractors were on site late last week removing piled dirt and a drainage pipe that had been installed in the stretch, with the road in the area expected to now be at ground level rather than raised. The public as well as county elected officials have raised questions about the over $2 million price tag to pave a strip from East Collins Street roughly two miles north to the Lakeview Terrace retirement community, with officials at the input meeting stating that the recreational road in the area - at least in some sections - could be as wide as 14 feet, larger than previous specifications and wider than a single lane of traditional roadway.  
    The trail could terminate there for some time, as a path going north past CR 42 has remained unsettled.  A public meeting held at the Altoona School in recent years indicated getting the trail through ‘downtown’ Altoona was difficult and not finalized because of a lack of right-of-way in the historic area.
    Additionally, equestrian enthusiasts in attendance on Tuesday voiced concern that the paved trails being planned and constructed are only open to limited uses like hiking and bicycles and are not appropriate for horses.  As a result, it is believed that at least a section of the trail north of Umatilla could be narrowed to that an unpaved section could be available to equestrian uses.
    An exact location of a paved strip running from Tavares to Umatilla has yet to be settled, but proposals forwarded on Tuesday include concepts that see construction running along David Walker Road between Eustis and Tavares, looping around the east side of Eustis and up the east side of SR 19 between from Eustis to Umatilla. Funding for the construction of any ‘trail’ through the area has also yet to be finalized.
    Those wishing to give input on plans for the area’s trail system are encouraged to visit a site that is reachable by the QR code shown here, where trail preferences and comments can be submitted.