Breaking News – Bonita Springs City Council Votes to Purchase Rail Corridor for BERT!!
The Bonita Springs City Council voted to approve the purchase and sale agreement to acquire the rail corridor currently owned by Seminole Gulf Railway for the future Bonita Estero Rail Trail (BERT). The 6-1 vote occurred during this morning’s council meeting in front of a packed house of BERT supporters. Bonita Springs is one of three jurisdictions needing to approve the purchase of the rail corridor in order to make BERT a reality. The Estero Village Council unanimously approved the purchase during their meeting on March 4th while the Collier County Commissioners are scheduled to vote on April 14th, although Collier County approved the funding source of their portion of BERT during their meeting on March 10th. The rail to trail totals 11.4 miles stretching from Wiggins Pass Road in Collier County to Estero Parkway in Lee County and costs $60 million to purchase. The Bonita Springs portion of the corridor is 5.8 miles for a total cost of $28.6 million. The Bonita Springs City council is also considering a bond ballot measure to finance the cost of both the purchase of the corridor and construction of the BERT rail to trail. Details of the ballot measure will be discussed by the Bonita Springs City Council during their council meeting on April 15th.
This is yet another major milestone needed to make BERT a reality. If you get the opportunity, please thank the council members who voted to advance the purchase of the rail corridor for BERT. And special thanks to council member Chris Corrie for all of his hard work for the past three years to get us to this point.
