By mid-March, a $2 million paved trail will cut through the Bartram-Carr woods on the University of Florida campus.
The trail, intended for bicyclists and pedestrians, will connect the west side of campus to the east side, beginning on Gale Lemerand Drive and ending by Archer Road, said Ketan Patel, contracting manager at Gibbs & Register of Winter Garden, Florida.
There will also be a 12-foot-wide, 146-foot-long steel bridge crossing over Lake Alice Creek, said Jason Haeseler, a project engineer for the Florida Department of Transportation.
The trail was funded by the FDOT and constructed in two phases, Patel said.
The first phase was delayed due to weather problems and the football season, but the second phase was finished on time, Haeseler said.
The trail is set to open to the public in March and is projected to expand within the next two years, said Haeseler.
"The trail is going to go all around Gainesville to give everyone an alternative route to school and work," said Haeseler.
Carla Moreno, a Gainesville resident and nurse at UF Health Shands Hospital said, she has been riding her bike to work for a few months.
"It will definitely keep me out of the way of cars, which is always my concern when I'm riding," Moreno said.