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Dunedin
The Pinellas Trail Effect: How a sleepy little town, with a failing economy, experienced an economic boom! The Pinellas Loop Trail is a 75-mile-long bicycle and pedestrian trail that traverses all of Pinellas County and bisects downtown Dunedin. Dunedin’s strategic location along the trail has turned this once depressed community into a destination spot for outdoor enthusiasts. Compared…
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BERT ECONOMIC BENEFITS
BERT Economic Benefits It’s time to get excited about the economic benefits that the Bonita Estero Rail Trail will bring to Lee County! Upon completion the trail is expected to draw thousands of tourists annually contributing heavily to the growth and diversification of the tourism economy for Lee County. Trail user expenditures for hotels, restaurants, grocery stores,…
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Feasibility Study Approved!
Feasibility Study Approved! On March 17th a big milestone was met. The Lee County MPO Board unanimously approved the feasibility study, bringing us one step closer to making this Rail to Trail a reality. Friends of BERT packed the MPO meeting with at least 35 Friends sporting BERT shirts, 13 of whom gave 3-minute presentations during the public…
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BICYCLIST KILLED ON TAMIAMI TRAIL
BICYCLIST KILLED ON TAMIAMI TRAIL A bicyclist was killed in Naples on Saturday on Tamiami Trail. This is the reason Friends of BERT is fighting so hard for the BERT trail; to save lives! Click here to learn more about this story.
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FRIENDS OF BERT GIVES PRESENTATION TO THE SOUTH FORT MYERS ROTARY CLUB
FRIENDS OF BERT GIVES PRESENTATION TO THE SOUTH FORT MYERS ROTARY CLUB The Rotary Club of South Fort Myers asked the Friends of BERT to speak at their weekly meeting and of course we said yes. BERT VP, Emily Porter gave the presentation to a group of 50+ people who were very receptive to the addition…
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BONITA FEST
BONITA FEST On February 25th, Goats Coffee sponsored an event at Riverside Park called “Bonita Fest.” This event benefited local non-profits and raised money for the Bonita Springs American Legion and the Bonita Springs Assistance Office to help toward recovery from Hurricane Ian. The Friends of the Bonita Estero Rail Trail (BERT) were invited to participate so…
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FUNDRAISING HAS BEGUN
FUNDRAISING HAS BEGUN As all of us know, we will need a lot of support for the Bonita Estero Rail Trail to become a reality. All of our volunteers work for free so we don’t spend a dime on that. But the costs of materials, supplies, websites, accounting and so on are not. As we get deeper…
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GROWING SUPPORT FOR THE BONITA ESTERO RAIL TRAIL
GROWING SUPPORT FOR THE BONITA ESTERO RAIL TRAIL The Friends of BERT have been hard at work growing our base of advocates for the proposed rail-trail conversion. Since September, the number of individual supporters has grown from just a handful to over 2600! Efforts to get homeowners association boards to endorse BERT have resulted in…
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BERT MAKING PROGRESS: Feasibility Study wrapping up and Design Phase to begin!
BERT MAKING PROGRESS: Feasibility Study wrapping up and Design Phase to begin! The Lee Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is making the rounds and gaining acceptance of the two-year feasibility study. These presentations culminate on March 17th at the MPO Policy Board meeting in Fort Myers. Please attend if you can, and wear your BERT shirt. We’d…
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Bonita Springs – Estero Realtors Endorse BERT!
Bonita Springs – Estero Realtor group recently endorsed the Bonita Estero Rail Trail.