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Trail users will find relief at SR 50 stopBy JENNIFER LIBERTO, Times Staff Writer © St. Petersburg Times published July 24, 2003
Hernando County is on its way to adding another claim to trailway fame. By next summer, the Suncoast Parkway Trail head in Brooksville on State Road 50 will be the only spot to offer flush toilets right on the trail. Architectural drawings are complete and permits have been pulled, clearing the way for construction of a 2,550-square-foot building that would house men's and women's restrooms at the SR 50 trail head. The building will also have room for a vendor and will rent bicycles or inline skates, said Steve Diez, a transportation planner with Hernando County Planning Department. "That's sure to make it a popular facility," Diez said. The planning department has a budget of $250,000 for the building, $50,000 of which came from the Office of Greenways and Trails funding; the rest are federal Department of Transportation dollars. The State Road 50 trail head, like most of the other parkway trail heads, offers portable toilets. Trail heads just off the trail in parks, such as Anderson Snow Park, do offer flush toilets. Plans call for restrooms at the trail's northern end at U.S. 98, but such plans are at least a year away, Diez said. The SR 50 building is modeled after trail heads along the West Orange Trail in the Orlando area. The design will be Florida Cracker style and will feature a wraparound porch and possibly a tin roof, Diez said. Construction should start in the late fall and be completed by next summer, Diez said. Local cyclists called the trail head building a great idea. "They should have something at (State Road) 50 there," said Joe Becchetti, a Spring Hill cyclist who rides the trail from end to end once a week. But the county should spend some of that money to build a few water fountains along the trail, said Becchetti, who also is a member of the Tampa Bay Freewheelers. At this point the only water available at Hernando County trail entries is at Anderson Snow Park. - Jennifer Liberto covers business and development in Hernando County and can be reached at 848-1434 or liberto@sptimes.com
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