GAI’s trail project experience includes more than 100 miles of trails around the state of Florida—on projects for cities, towns, counties, and for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). GAI has provided extensive trail design as well as design-build and construction engineering and inspection services on trails located in a wide variety of settings, including urban business districts, along rural highways, and on abandoned railroads.

GAI has been working with Clay County, Florida and FDOT to provide design, public involvement activities, and construction oversight for a new 1.5-mile multiuse trail along the existing unpaved Live Oak Lane that will connect the Jacksonville Equestrian Center on Normandy Blvd. to Gold Head Branch State Park. The trail is designed to meet the requirements of Florida’s Shared Use Non-Motorized (SUN) program criteria. The project is being funded through the FDOT Local Agency Program (LAP), and is a critical link of the planned Northeast Florida Greenway that will ultimately connect to Gold Head Branch State Park.

With an eye toward multimodal safety, the design for the new trail consists of a 12-ft-wide multiuse path with bridges for cyclists, pedestrians, and equestrians. GAI also developed plans for a new traffic signal at the intersection of Long Bay Road and Old Jennings Road, including a new sidewalk connection to the existing sidewalk and provision for a future extension of Long Bay Road to the north. These multimodal safety features considered existing traffic patterns and increased volumes due to anticipated future growth

GAI successfully developed the design to meet permit exemption requirements for the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) as well as other permitting agencies. GAI also worked with Clay County and property owners to acquire additional right-of-way (ROW), as the existing ROW was not sufficient to meet SUN trail criteria. This required extensive public outreach to gain buy-in for the project. GAI completed the design in December 2023, and was reselected by Clay County to provide design services for an additional 3.5-mile link to this SUN Trail to connect Live Oak Lane to SR 21 (Blanding Boulevard).