Gasparilla Pines Pathway to connect two Cape Haze preserves

A new sidewalk and drainage program on Cape Haze will connect the Lemon Bay Conservancy’s Lemon Creek Wildflower Preserve and Charlotte County’s Amberjack Environmental Park. The project, called the Gasparilla Pines Pathway, is slated for completion on March 29, 2024.  The Pathway’s right-of-way has just been cleared of trash left there from nearby mobile homes and illegal dumping after Hurricane Ian. Irene Slattery, vice president of the Lemon Bay Conservancy, said that the trash was dumped “from the intersection over to our gate.”  The budget for the Pathway is $727,900, paid for by Charlotte County’s Placida Street and Drainage Municipal Service Benefit Unit, or MSBU. The design engineer and project architect is Johnson Engineering.