Ward Trail bridge arrives in Windermere

As the new Ward Trail pedestrian bridge made its way down Main Street, it was a weight off Windermere Town Manager Robert Smith’s shoulders.

The Ward Trail project has been 10 years in the making, and when the bridge was delivered Monday, June 15, it was a pivotal moment in bringing the project to fruition. 

“In this job, you really don’t get validated that much, and just seeing the bridge, it was like a sigh of relief, saying, ‘OK, I’ve accomplished something the residents can actually see, touch, feel and enjoy, because they don’t see what happens behind the scenes on just running the town itself,” Smith said. “This was a collective effort between council members, mayors, elected officials (and) staff. It took quite a while to get to this point.”

The Ward Trail is planned to be a multi-modal path wide enough to fit pedestrians, bike riders and golf cart travel. Its width made Smith nervous as the bridge was being delivered; he questioned whether it would be too wide to get down the roadway, but it successfully made its way to the canal.

The new 8-feet-tall, 14-feet-wide, railroad-style bridge over the canal that connects Lake Down and Lake Butler will be large enough to allow two golf carts to pass each other, allowing for easier traffic passage compared to the old bridge in which people would have to take turns going up or down the narrow pathway if they’re coming in opposite directions. 

The Ward Trail bridge will connect old downtown Windermere with newer sections of town, giving residents access to parks, boat ramps and other aspects of town. 

The bridge will be instrumental in allowing Windermere Elementary School students and their families travel to and from their homes to school. 

Along the path, different types of greenery will be planted, including longleaf pines, firebushes, saw palmettos and Sabal palms.

Although the bridge initially was installed Tuesday, June 16, Smith said there still is work to be done, including having it balanced and ensuring it is connected properly. 

“Right now, the north side is somewhat connected, but we still need to make sure these levels are OK for golf carts, ADA accessibility and whatnot,” he said. 

There also will need to be sidewalk and fencing placements on the south end of the trail. 

The goal of town staff is to have the project complete before school begins Tuesday, Aug. 11. 

Courtesy photo

The completion of the project will be an accomplishment Smith has been waiting for since he started as town manager 15 years ago. 

One of the goals of the town was to acquire the old railroad right-of-way from 12th Avenue to Windermere Road that Ken and Susan Ward purchased and put into a trust. Smith began negotiating with the Wards to buy the property, and Kimley-Horn conducted a safety study in 2015 to assess the roadways and sidewalks in the area.

Negotiations led to a stalemate until Ken and Susan Ward died in a house fire in 2017 and their sons assumed the trust and accepted the town’s $250,000 appraisal. The trail was named in honor of the Ward family.

Through property swaps, the town acquired the remaining land. 

On March 13, 2018, Windermere Town Council finalized the purchase of the Wards’ property, and since then, town staff had been working on acquiring funding for the multi-modal path. 

The town secured $760,000 from a federal appropriations request through the Safe Routes to School program and also secured $1 million from the Florida Legislature. 

“It’s an accomplishment with a vision that pretty much happened before I got here, and to see it implemented, I think the town residents are going to see the benefit of what our taxpayer dollars goes toward,” Smith said. “This is really just the first step.”

Smith said once the bridge is open, residents will immediately see the benefits. It will connect residents to parks, civic centers and everything in downtown Windermere. 

A driving factor also has been safety. 

“If you go close to the canal on the dirt roads, that was usually a mud bog, and we usually have to scrape the sidewalk off because of the dirt and silt for kids walking to Windermere Elementary School,” Smith said. 

Golf cart drivers also often would cross over the main bridge to drop off or pick up their children from Windermere Elementary School, whether the pedestrian bridge was congested. 

Now the new Ward Trail pedestrian bridge will take golf carts off the main road, improving safety for drivers and golf cart drivers alike.

“Our intent is to make sure we had safe routes for not only school children but (also) our general public and connect the developments that are north of the bridge to the downtown core,” Smith said. 

Smith said future phases of the Windermere Ward Trail multi-modal path are unknown due to the potential impacts of voters passing the property tax reform in November. He said Public Works could “take a huge hit” if the reform passes. 

Future plans for the project include Phase 2, from North Drive to Sixth Avenue; Phase 3, along Sixth Avenue from Main Street to Apopka-Vineland Road; and Phase 4, from Chase Road/12th Avenue to Sixth Avenue.