Over a creek and through the woods, UF students will race to class on their bikes this Spring in an area that was previously unpaved and unusable.
A $2 million, mile-long path will unite the campus’ east and west sides. It will start near the commuter lot on Gale Lemerand Drive, pass the New Engineering Building and cross through the Bartram-Carr woods, said Gina Busscher, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Transportation.
The trail marks the second phase of construction on the UF Campus Greenway, a 2.5-mile multipurpose trail funded entirely by the department.
The phase two trail will stop at the intersection of South Newell Drive and Southwest Archer Road, near the UF College of Medicine. Construction on phase two will be completed by spring.
She said she hopes the path will keep pedestrians and bikers safe and out of the way of cars.
Phase one, extending from Gale Lemerand Drive to Southwest 34th Street, will be finished in about two weeks and cost about $1.8 million, she said.
"The plan is to connect the trails," Busscher said, adding the Campus Greenway will connect the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail to the Archer Braid Trail.
UF mechanical engineering senior Jeff Dickens rides his blue 1975 Raleigh bicycle through campus every day. He said the Campus Greenway can help prevent accidents and make commuting to class easier.
"I think it’d be nice," the 22-year-old said. "Just more routes, easier to get around campus."
UF political science doctoral student Peter Licari usually rides across campus on a seven-gear Infinity bicycle. He said when he’s biking, he worries he’ll either crash into a car or a pedestrian.
The construction of the 12-foot-wide cross-campus trail would ease his worries, the 21-year-old said.
"I’d be all for that," he said. "I always like to see some places safer for me to ride on, safer for me to run on."
Max Rogozinski, a 22-year-old UF mechanical engineering senior, said UF doesn’t have any other bike path, so the addition of the Greenway makes sense — even if it means paving through a forest.
"I like the woods and everything, but a more dedicated bike path would be nice," he said.
Contact Martin Vassolo at mvassolo@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @martindvassolo
