Seminole County leaders on Monday joined Sanford and state transportation officials to open the latest leg of the Lake Monroe Loop, a paved recreational trail that when completed will fully wrap around the scenic waterway.
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The long-awaited 2.3-mile trail segment connects with the eastern terminus of Sanford’s existing Riverwalk trail, which runs along the southern shore Lake Monroe. It extends along Mellonville Avenue from East Seminole Boulevard to Celery Avenue and then continues along Celery to just east of Sipes Avenue, near the historic Black community of Midway.
The cost for construction was $3.1 million and paid for with funds from the county’s penny sales tax and the state Department of Transportation.
“What these trails do is make sure our communities stay connected,” Seminole Commission Chair Andria Herr said at the ribbon cutting. “It connects our residents with our businesses and our residents with one another.”
Sanford Mayor Art Woodruff agreed, calling it “a really good addition to the city” and the area.
“It’s going to be a beautiful thing, not only for our residents, but also for our visitors,” Woodruff said.
On its western terminus near Wayside Park and the Interstate 4 overpass, the Sanford River Walk connects with an existing trail into Volusia County. Lake Monroe, which is a wider portion of the St. Johns River, straddles the Seminole and Volusia borders.
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A proposed Phase 2 of the project will continue extending the new trail segment eastward about 1.5 miles from east of Sipes Avenue to an existing trail on County Road 415.
However, construction for Phase 2 has not yet been scheduled, because funding “has not yet been identified,” said Katie Wigle, a spokeswoman for Seminole County.
When Phase 2 is completed, the 27-mile Lake Monroe Loop will allow bicyclists and pedestrians to travel continuously around the scenic waterway without worrying about cars and trucks by using the Sanford Riverwalk, Volusia’s Spring-to-Spring Trail, East Coast Greenway, and Florida’s Coast-to-Coast Connector.
The Lake Monroe Loop also will connect with the proposed Lake to Lake Regional Trail, an 120-mile pathway from Lake Monroe to Lake Okeechobee in South Florida.
“This project was years in the making,” said Tawny Olore, Seminole’s public works director. “We started working on this project in 2012. So it really takes time, effort, collaboration. It takes partnership.”
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