More than 140 miles of new cycling and walking trails coming to Manatee County

A plan for over 140 miles of new trails intends to make Manatee County more bike and pedestrian-friendly.

It will also help connect the Bradenton area to the SUN Trail Network, a growing statewide network of trails for recreation and transportation.

Manatee County commissioners unanimously approved the Trailways Master Plan, which calls for an investment of $130 million in expanding the county’s recreational trail system over the next 20-plus years.

The plan recommends a potential mix of private, state and federal grants and funds that could pay to establish the trails piecemeal.

“I think this is critically important, not just for our region, but everybody here in Manatee County,” Commissioner George Kruse said.

Filling the “doughnut hole”

Kruse described Manatee County as a “doughnut hole” between Sarasota and Hillsborough counties in the Gulf Coast’s trail system.

“I’m glad we’re moving this forward. There’s money available. It’s just we don’t have a firm plan we can put in front of them to get it. It’s nice to have something a little more concrete,” Kruse said.

Traffic Management Deputy Director Clarke Davis said the county’s plan was created over two decades ago and is in need of a refresh. The updated version will allow the county to pursue grants and funding for the expansion, he said.

The county hired engineering and planning firm Patel, Greene and Associates to refresh the master plan, a process that took about 18 months and included several public input sessions.

The plan prioritizes which sections of trail should be built first based on factors that include local demographics, access to public facilities and transportation and connectivity with existing trails.

It includes segments connecting Palmetto and Bradenton, Bradenton to Sarasota and Anna Maria Island to Longboat Key.

Elsewhere, planned trail segments would connect from near the Hillsborough County line to Parrish and Parrish to Bradenton. And a loop trail segment planned for East Manatee County would help link natural areas, including Rye Preserve, Ed Chance Preserve and Duette Preserve.

Types of trails

The county’s plan incorporates three different types of trails.

Trails that are part of the state’s SUN Trail Network will be 15-foot-wide asphalt paths lined with markers for long-distance cyclists. Of the 69 miles of SUN Trails planned for Manatee County, 7% are complete, the plan says. The other 93% still need funding.

County trails will be 8 to 12-foot wide asphalt or concrete paths with “maximum buffers from roadways” and connections to county activity centers.

Local trails will loop within natural areas and neighborhood parks and vary in size and surface material.

Some trails in East Manatee will also provide equestrian access for horse riders, the plan says.

County trails are a decades-long vision

Charlie Hunsicker, the county’s parks and natural resources director, has been advocating for a county-wide trail system for over two decades.

The first plan for a county-wide trail system called the Gateway Greenway Trail was approved in 2002.

But an economic downturn and a lack of funding prevented it from gaining much ground for many years.

More recently, however, smaller pieces have begun to fall into place.

“This is Appalachian Trail scale stuff here,” Hunsicker said in 2017, when the county approved a span of trail from State Road 64 to the Sarasota County line. “This is not one park to the next, but it is a plan that will take many years to accomplish across the entire eastern Manatee County to solve that problem of getting long-distance walkers and hikers from Hillsborough to Sarasota County.”

Earlier this year, the county said 25% of the Gateway Greenway is now complete after staff worked with Lakewood Ranch developers to incorporate the trail system into community planning designs.

The county commission placed recreational trails in its list of 2023 legislative priorities, and commissioners said they will be seeking federal appropriations to help fund the vision.

In addition to the statewide SUN Trail, Manatee County’s trails are also part of a planned Florida Gulf Coast Trail that will span Pinellas County to Collier County.