NE Florida News

Construction on the Lehigh Trailhead Project off of Belle Terre Parkway will commence on January 23, 2023. The project enhances the popular path by providing ADA-compliant paved parking with more than 60 parking spaces, a restroom, and a water fountain. The project also includes community gardens, a dog park, lighting, and pavilions.

The dirt parking lot at the Lehigh trailhead and the sidewalk that runs along the parking area will close starting Monday, January 23, for the duration of construction. Visitors to the area must park across Belle Terre Parkway in the grass lot and use the designated crosswalk at Belle Terre Pkwy and Royal Palms Pkwy to access the trailhead. It is important for visitors to use the crosswalk for their own safety, as well as for the safety of others. The closure and parking arrangements are in place to allow for necessary construction and improvements to the trailhead area. Construction is expected to be completed by November 2023. 

This project supports the City Council’s priority pillar of safe and reliable services and promotes collaboration with Flagler County on the Countywide Parks Master Plan. It is also a direct result of great partnerships and inter-agency cooperation by the City of Palm Coast, the Florida Department of Transportation, and the River to Sea Transportation Planning Organization.City planners worked with staff from both organizations to amend FDOT’s 5-year Work Program and the River to Sea TPO’s 5-year Transportation Improvement Plan to make this project a reality.  

This project was made possible by a grant for $1.24 million provided by the Florida Department of Transportation. Residents and visitors to Palm Coast also help contribute to improvements at city amenities through spending locally, which is highlighted in the city’s Be Local Buy Local campaign. A portion generated through the small county surtax and the local government half-cent sales tax comes back to the community to pay for capital improvement projects. This is another example of how shopping local helps not just the businesses, but also the community.

In addition to sales tax, recreation impact fees are also utilized. This means every new dwelling unit constructed in Palm coast pays an impact fee that is used to pay for a portion of recreation capacity improvement projects.

To discover more about this project, visit the Capital Projects dashboard at palmcoast.gov/engineering

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Original source can be found here.