Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Recreation and Parks | Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail Gap Connections, Monroe County, FL

WGI was tasked under a Statewide Architectural & Engineering contract to provide survey, civil and structural engineering, environmental, and construction administration services to provide new Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail (FKOHT) gap connections identified as a component of the Florida Greenways and Trails System Plan and Land Trails Priority Network. Key. The FKOHT is a 106-mile multi-use pedestrian and bicycle corridor of regional significance uniquely situated along the environmentally sensitive and scenic coastal SR A1A / Overseas Highway corridor within the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) R/W, and is part of the East Coast Greenway (ECG) national trail system spanning over 3,000 miles from Canada to Key West, Florida, linking all the major cities of America’s Eastern Seaboard and connecting communities. The gap connections and new trail segments are located from Toms Harbor Channel to Toms Harbor Cut / Long Key and Geiger Trail to Big Coppitt Key.  

WGI’s team of biologists and Professional Wetland Scientists performed qualitative and quantitative environmental field reviews and data collection to document existing conditions. WGI conducted natural resource assessments and delineated, mapped, and characterized wetlands, mangroves, and protected species and habitats to support regulatory permitting and avoidance and minimization design. WGI prepared a compensatory mitigation plan to offset remaining unavoidable natural resource impacts and successfully obtained local, state, and federal environmental permits in addition to amending the FDOT and FDEP Maintenance Memorandum of Agreement for new trail build-out.

Project Highlights:

WGI was also tasked via a FDOT Districtwide Environmental Permits contract to provide environmental services for the remaining trail gap connection administered via the Shared-Use Non-motorized (SUN) Trail Program and located along SR 5 / US 1 from North Harris Channel to Johnson Rd in Upper Sugarloaf Key.