Bonita Estero Rail Trail project boosted by $82M land deal

The Bonita Estero Rail Trail project hit a milestone four years in the making, with Trust for Public Land securing a purchase and sale agreement on a 14.9-mile segment of the Seminole Gulf Railway that stretches from Alico Road to Collier County for $82 million.  

Trust for Public Land, or TPL, is a national nonprofit land conservation organization that works to connect land and people. Over the last 30 years, TPL has acquired more than 45 rail-trail corridors, adding hundreds of miles of recreational trails within and between communities across the country. 

For Bonita Estero Rail Trail, the recently announced purchase and sale agreement is the site control needed to begin seeking funding for the project.  

“The funding plan, because it’s a high value property being it’s a rail corridor in the middle of urbanized area, which is very hard and very valuable to the community, is going to involve lots of funding sources,” TPL Southeast Region Conservation Director Doug Hattaway said. 

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