The boardwalk at Loblolly Woods Nature Park won’t be ready for runners, bikers and dog walkers until early next year.
The path, which has been closed for repairs since May, will start renovations within the next month, said Linda Demetropoulos, nature and cultural manager for Gainesville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs. Construction could take up to five months.
“That’s a really loved structure,” Demetropoulos said. “We realize it’s an inconvenience, and we are working just as quickly as the system will allow us to get that open.”
The site was expected to open this fall, but Demetropoulos said paperwork processing time caused the delay.
Connecting Eighth and 16th avenues, the boardwalk was popular for runners and cyclists, but its location within the wetlands of the park made it susceptible to weathering.
“There were places where you could see there were holes in the boards and the potential for people to get hurt,” Demetropoulos said.
About $140,000 will be taken from the city’s available capital improvement funds to pay for the repair, she said
Students and residents who frequented the path must now take a detour through the Mason Manor boardwalk off Northwest 25th Terrace.
Sarah Ring, a UF applied physiology and kinesiology senior, said the boardwalk was a favorite of hers because of its convenient connection between Eighth and 16th avenues.
“Last spring, I was training a lot for a triathlon, and one day I went for a run expecting it to be open and it wasn’t,” Ring, 21, said.
She has since taken different routes, many of which force her to run on the road.
“It’s kind of unfortunate,” she said. “I’ve run past it with the hopes of running through all those trails again.”
For now, the Loblolly boardwalk, which connects Eighth and 16th avenues, is closed. Pedestrians can use Mason Manor boardwalk off Northwest 25th Terrace as an alternative route for access to Loblolly Woods and Hogtown Creek.
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 9/25/2014]
