JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — After years of planning, paving, and painting, part of the Emerald Trail is open for business.
Jacksonville Mayor was joined by several city leaders to cut the ribbon on the LaVilla segment of the Emerald Trail.
“Around downtown, it’s my main form of transportation," said Dimitri Demopoulos, who lives in downtown.
For the past decade, Demopoulos has done his part to bring the Emerald Trail to life.
He wanted to make sure his perspective as someone who lives in downtown and has experienced the struggle of getting around on a bike was included in the plan.
“It’ll encourage people to want to take the ride up to the S Line," said Demopoulos. "Right now, it’s a little rough. Before this started to happen, you sort of had to look at your phone and piece things together.”
The 1.3-mile LaVilla link is the first new segment of the Emerald Trail, connecting Brooklyn to LaVilla and New Town.
The LaVilla piece wasn’t in the original plans for the trail.
“It was residents from Durkeeville and New Town, members of the Master Plan steering committee, who asked for a direct link for downtown," said Groundwork Jacksonville CEO Kay Ehas. "Now, we can’t imagine the Emerald Trail without the LaVilla link. That would’ve been a major, major miss.”
By 2031, the goal is for the trail to stretch 30 miles from Lackawanna to the East side and San Marco to Brentwood.
“This is the kind of stuff that young professionals, that families are looking for when they’re looking for a place to raise their kids," said Jacksonville City Councilman Jimmy Peluso.
It’s a lot to build, and a lot to maintain.
The new trail connects to the S Line, which is about 5 miles of converted railroad to trail that was completed in 2008.
A viewer shared pictures of the S Line from last weekend, littered with trash.
“It’s just so discouraging to me how much litter there is in this community," said Ehas. "It’s going to be challenging.”
Ehas says several city departments will meet in the next week to figure out who is going to do what to keep the trail clean.
Demopoulos has already taken the new link for a spin, looking forward to the day he can ride the full 30 miles.
"If I can do it, I will do it," said Demopoulos.
This wall dividing traffic from the trail will eventually feature a mural, you can see a rendering of that here.
The city also plans to add shade umbrellas too, which could be nice for breaking up a ride on a hot day.