With the goal of providing improved recreational options for cyclists and pedestrians, GAI provided construction engineering and inspection services to FDOT District Two for the construction of a segment of the Palatka to Lake Butler State Trail, a multi-use path on abandoned rail lines, on the north side of State Road 100 in Putnam County, Florida.

This $3.8 million project was funded under FDOT’s Shared Use Nonmotorized (SUN) Trail program, an initiative to develop a statewide system of paved multi-use trails for bicyclists and pedestrians—physically separated from vehicular traffic.

This portion of the trail opened in October 2018, and consists of a 12-foot-wide, 6-mile long paved path from Roberts Lane to west of County Road 216. The project required the removal of existing railroad tracks and timber structures made of treated lumber, and also included construction of a box culvert and bridge over Rice Creek.