ESTERO, Fla. (WINK)\u2014The Bonita Estero Rail Trail project will move forward after the Village of Estero City Council voted not to terminate the plan ahead of the deadline.<\/p>\n
The Village of Estero reviewed a purchase and sale agreement valued at nearly $20 million to buy about 66.7 acres of land that make up the portion of the rail line within Estero\u2019s boundaries. On March 5, 2026, the Village and Trust for Public Lands entered into the agreement, with Trust for Public Lands agreeing to sell the 66.7 acres to the Village of Estero.<\/p>\n
The agreement included an inspection period, and council members discussed soil samples taken from the land during a meeting. Nothing unusual was found in the samples.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese contaminants are found in rail lines all over the country and many hundreds of those lines have been successfully converted to a trail,\u201d said Mayor Joanne Ribble.<\/p>\n
The Bonita Estero Rail Trail will stretch 11.4 miles, connecting Collier County, Bonita Springs and the Village of Estero. Some neighbors in the area expressed excitement about the development moving forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was ecstatic about it. Actually, I thought it was a great thing. We’re going to make great use of a historical railway system that’s going to go all the way, you know, well into Estero,\u201d said Sean Marvelle.<\/p>\n
Cyclist Russ Hutchings said he believes the rail trail will bring nearby communities together.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it’s a great idea. It’s nice to be able to ride somewhere safe as a bikist or bicyclist to go from one town to another,\u201d said Hutchings.<\/p>\n
Deb Orton, president and co-founder of Friends of Bert, said the vote by Village of Estero council members is a monumental moment for the rail trail.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m a cyclist, and so that’s how I got into this to begin with. Was it’s dangerous to ride a bike here, and so we’re one of the most dangerous places in the country. In fact, so putting in a place where you can separate cyclists and pedestrians from the busy traffic is going to make it much safer,\u201d said Orton.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Orton said this was the final vote on the development between Bonita Springs, Collier County and Estero. She said the expected closing date on the property is in January.<\/p>\n
The Bonita Estero Rail Trail project will continue to move forward, connecting communities and providing a safer space for cyclists and pedestrians<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ESTERO, Fla. (WINK)\u2014The Bonita Estero Rail Trail project will move forward after the Village of Estero City Council…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441181,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[129607,172178,77368,11178,209,211,210,5926,172177,59044,172176,28],"class_list":["post-441180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-bonita-beach-causeway","tag-bonita-estero","tag-bonita-estero-rail-trail","tag-bonita-springs","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-collier-county","tag-council-vote","tag-cyclist","tag-estero-city-council","tag-florida"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}