City celebrates completed trail on Thursday

On Thursday, March 31, at 10 a.m., Winter Park Mayor Kenneth W. Bradley and Orlando District 3 City Commissioner Robert Stuart will hold an official ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the Lake Baldwin Trail. The ceremony will take place near the walkway just south of the main entrance to Fleet Peeples Park at 2000 S. Lakemont Ave. For more information, please call 407-599-3428.

Construction of a section of paved trail, missing from the Lake Baldwin Trail loop, has recently been completed by the city of Winter Park, thanks to a grant from the Florida Department of Transportation.

The 2,160-foot section, from the Winter Park/Orlando city limits on the western side of Lake Baldwin at Lakemont Avenue to the same boundary on the eastern side of the lake at Veterans Memorial Park, just off Lake Baldwin Lane, closes the loop by encompassing Winter Park’s Fleet Peeples Park, situated on the northwestern shore of Lake Baldwin. The 4-foot sidewalk has been increased to a 12-foot paved trail and shifted south slightly, away from the busy section of Glenridge Way, which feeds traffic into the Veterans Administration Hospital.

“It was a missing piece, and we weren’t crazy about it,” said Chuck Trice, assistant director of the Winter Park Parks and Recreation Department. Neighboring Orlando completed construction of Harbor Park and the associated 6.5 miles of trails around Lake Baldwin in 2008. Until receiving the grant, Winter Park lacked the funding to construct the connection.

“It was always a goal of ours,” Trice said. “The opportunity presented itself, so we seized the day.”

The $79,800 FDOT grant, for the enhancement of public parks and sidewalks, covered the cost of the project, which took about three weeks to complete, Trice said.

The Winter Park trail section ends, on the east side, at the parking lot of Veterans Memorial Park. Another 150 feet, from the parking lot to Lake Baldwin Lane, was installed by Orlando, said Alvin Gilreath, horticulture coordinator with the city.

On Thursday, March 31, at 10 a.m., Winter Park Mayor Ken Bradley and Orlando District 3 City Commissioner Robert Stuart will hold an official ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the Lake Baldwin Trail.

BEYOND BALDWIN PARK

Cady Way and Cross Seminole Trails

After walking, running and biking all of the routes within the community, adventurous residents can go beyond Baldwin Park by using the Cady Way Trail.

The Cady Way Trail, a former railway corridor, is a joint effort between the cities of Winter Park and Orlando, Orange County and the Orlando Utilities Commission, completed in 1994. The original 6.5-mile trail forms the majority of the eastern border of Baldwin Park.

The southern trailhead of Cady Way is adjacent to the post office on Herndon Avenue, near Orlando Fashion Square Mall. From there the trail runs mostly north to a pedestrian bridge that crosses State Road 436, between University Boulevard and Aloma Avenue.

Recently added is another 2.5 miles of the trail, which passes through the Goldenrod area and then meets up with the Cross Seminole Trail at the intersection of Aloma Avenue and Howell Branch Road. Currently the Cross Seminole Trail has a completed section from Howell Branch Road to the intersection of Red Bug Lake Road and Aloma Avenue, just south of downtown Oviedo, about 5.5 miles.

Baldwin Park residents can easily access Cady Way Trail at the south end of Lake Baldwin Lane, near the Neighborhood Office district, and at Baldwin Park Street, near Winter Pines Golf Course. If you start your excursion at the Herndon Avenue trailhead, and go all the way to Oviedo, the round trip is about 30 miles.

For more information on other portions of the Cross Seminole Trail, please go to /www.seminolecountyfl.gov/leisure/trails. There are some small sections awaiting funding and construction, but when they are completed, the Cross Seminole Trail will be 24 miles long and users will be able to travel across Seminole County to the Interstate 4 pedestrian bridge and connect with the Seminole Wekiva Trail with a northern terminus at the Wekiva River.

For information on Cady Way trail, please visit the trail page at www.ocfl.net