Monday, March 1, 2010

Lake Henrietta getting a new bridge and access trail

Lake Henrietta Park is getting a new footbridge.

The bridge will cross Munson Slough, connecting the 6700-foot-long paved, multi-use trail around Lake Henrietta to a new trail, also under construction. The new trail will run along a creek (the East Drainage Ditch) to a point on North Ridge Road, just across the street from Silver Lake Park, 3321 North Ridge Road. Don't confuse this with Silver Lake Recreation Area in the Apalachicola National Forest! Silver Lake Park is a small city park on the south side of Tallahassee. You'd think that there would be a "one 'Silver Lake' per county" rule.

The new bridge and trail will give the neighborhoods east of Lake Henrietta Park direct access to the park. Visitors to Lake Henrietta Park will also be able to use Silver Lake Park as an alternative to the trailhead off of Springhill Road--Silver Lake Park has a few more parking spots than the dozen or so at the Springhill Road trailhead. I hope this was intentional because it would show unusual inter-government co-operation (Silver Lake Park is a city park while Lake Henrietta Park is a county park).

The bridge itself seems sturdy to the point of being over-engineered. Supported by enormous concrete pillars and spanned by steel I-beams, it looks ready to carry highway traffic. The wooden ramp approaching the deck from the east, however, isn't quite as heavy-duty, but looks adequate for bicycle and foot traffic. The new bridge and trail aren't quite finished, but appear only weeks away from being ready for use. Keep an eye out for an announcement of the dedication ceremony!

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