It’s another great day for trail lovers in Orange County. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and District 6 Commissioner Victoria Siplin celebrated the opening of Phase 1, Segment 1 of the Shingle Creek Trail during a ribbon cutting ceremony. This one-mile segment stretches alongside the scenic Shingle Creek from underneath the Destination Parkway overpass (west of John Young Parkway) to just south of West Sand Lake Road.
The duo was joined by Orange County Sheriff’s Deputies, members of the Orange County Parks and Recreation office and numerous Orange County staff who assisted in the process of creating this segment.
This is just one piece of a larger effort to make Orange County friendlier for bicyclists and walkers. When fully constructed, the Shingle Creek Trail will stretch 32 miles through Seminole, Orange and Osceola Counties and will serve as a key north-south connector in a larger regional trails network that includes the West Orange Trail, South Lake Trail, Cross Seminole Trail and Seminole Wekiva Trail.
As the previous Orange County Sheriff, Demings worked with Bike/Walk Central Florida make roads and crosswalks safer for pedestrians through the Best Foot Forward program. Now, as Mayor, he has made a commitment to creating safe spaces for people to bike or walk.
“We want our community to be a very livable community with a high quality of life, and these types of amenities are important to that goal,” Demings said.
Phase 2 of Shingle Creek Trail will run from Destination Parkway to State Road 528. That segment is currently in the design phase.
For more details on the Shingle Creek Trail and Orange County’s trails master plan, see the Orange County website.
Below is our Facebook Live video of the event.
