Dreaming of a Turnpike Trail

Driving on an Interstate highway, or strolling around a rest area on an Interstate highway, you may have noticed the maintenance paths along the right-of-way fence. These fence-line paths would make great walking trails; with a layer of pavement they could be incredible bike trails. Now, this isn't going to happen. You can't have pedestrians or cyclists on the right-of-way of a superhighway. If the path is fenced off then you'll reduce the size of the right-of-way below that required by the Scripture handed down by the federal government. It's just possible that in some places you could acquire additional right-of-way adjacent to the Interstate for a trail, but I can see problems around bridges and interchanges. This would be difficult retrofit.

Fortunately, when the Suncoast Parkway was built north of Tampa, someone thought of including the Suncoast Trail in the construction. As the Florida Turnpike describes it:

"The Suncoast Parkway is the Turnpike’s only facility incorporating a multiuse recreation trail into the design and construction of a limited-access roadway. The 42-mile trail corridor is contained within and along the west side of the Suncoast Parkway. It provides an alternative route for safe bicycle and pedestrian commuting for local residents and also serves as a regional recreational facility for residents of the region and visitors from throughout Florida."

So now Hillsborough, Pasco, and Hernando counties have a paved bike trail that's a lot like a rail-trail, but with more turns and hills.

What if the state of Florida did the same thing with the Florida Turnpike mainline? I don't know how practical such a retrofit would be, but you'd end up with a bike trail from Wildwood down to homestead. Except for the stretch about Yeehaw Junction, bike tourists could travel the length of the trail in short hops from town to town. It would link to other trails, like the West Orange Trail. The trail could be done a little piece at a time--as sections of the Turnpike require maintenance, trail would be built on that section (much the same way that bike lanes are being added to existing roads in this area).

I'll let you know if I find out who to lobby. In the meantime, stay off the Interstate right-of-way.