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Grande Causeway. From there you can use the Boca Grande Bike Path to reach the Gasparilla Island State Park. If you do continue your ride to Boca Grande keep in mind the causeway is narrow and it was not designed to include foot or bike traffic, but the speed limit is kept low for safety. There is a $3 bridge toll fee for bikes. The total trip from Pioneer Park to the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse and back is about 32 miles. The trailhead entrances are open from dawn to dusk. There are picnic tables, a restroom and a bike rack near the parking areas. Right now the exit from the south trailhead leads to a sidewalk that abruptly ends at 776 and Gasparilla Roads, so those wishing to continue their ride into Englewood have no choice but to share the street with ongoing traffic, but that will soon change. A $13.4 million construction project along Placida Road in Cape Haze is well underway. Eight different construction crews are working on the project and the goal is to complete the plan by May of 2018. Charlotte County Public Works project manager Jay Slade said the proposal has multiple parts. “The project calls for the construction of a 10-foot wide pedestrian/bicycle sidewalk, as well as new storm water drainage that will run 6.5 miles on the east side of Placida Road from the Boca Grande Causeway to Rotonda Boulevard West,” Slade said. The project also calls for the construction of left-turn lanes at Panama Drive and Bantry Bay, and a southbound deceleration lane at the Cape Haze Boulevard intersection. Placida Road will also be resurfaced from the Boca Grande Causeway to Rotonda Boulevard West. Charlotte County Utilities will also be installing a sewer main and extending a reuse-irrigation line 6.8 miles from Rotonda Circle, west on Rotonda Boulevard West, south on Placida Road to Fishery Road, just past the Boca Grande Causeway where it will cross to the east side of the road. The total project cost is $13.4 million. A portion is being funded by the one-cent county sales tax and the utility portion is being funded by Charlotte County utilities and a grant from the Southwest Florida Water Management District. A construction project along Placida Road in Cape Haze is well underway. This will include a new 10-foot wide sidewalk so bicyclists and pedestrians can travel to Englewood from Placida. The northern trailhead of the Cape Haze. Pioneer Trail is located at 1668 Gasparilla Road. The 8-mile trail ends near the Coral Creek Club in Placida. G M


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