TheFKOHT began with an Executive Order issued by Lawton Chilesestablishing the Keys Bridge Task Force, charged withtheresponsibility of analyzing all aspects of the Old KeysBridges and recommending a course of action. In1998, Clean Florida Keys rallied enough local support to prepare aFlorida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail Conceptual plan published inJanuary 1999, and a Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail Action planpublished in November 1999. With acombination of local citizen support, the RailsToTrails, National Park Service,, Florida Department of Transportation and many other agencies, theFlorida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail Master Plan was approved in August2000. MonroeCounty passed a resolution to allowthe FDEP/OGT to design, build and maintain the trail. Memorandum ofAgreementswith all of the Key municipalities established maintenance andoversight of new trail segments. These founding steps formthe foundation of project development. Support extended out to the community, advocacy groups, educationalinstitutions, other agencies and the interest of numerous individuals,established key partnerships at the local, state and federallevel that have been critical for the project success.
TheFlorida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail has been a labor of love for themany individuals that have worked toward implementing the visionpresented to Governor Chiles by the Keys Bridge Task Force. In2001, the Florida Park Service hired a full time staffperson to begin implementing the trail project. The conceptpresented in the original Master Plan was strictly conceptual anddeveloping a feasible strategic plan and realistic designalternatives was one of the first orders of business. Extensivepreliminary scoping was involved to develop a framework for each traildesign and feasible placement of the trail. Preliminary efforts were needed to establish typical design sections forthe trail and bridge segments. The Florida ParkPlanning office outlined this monumental endeavor by preparinginitial cost estimates for bridges and trail projects in the Upper,Middle and Lower Keys communities.
FDEPneeded to become certified to receive FDOT enhancement funds (a LocalAgency Program certification) that allows state or local governments touse FDOT federal funds in accordance with FDOT designstandards. As the FDEP is an environmental regulatoryagency, it was deemed that South Florida Water Management District(SFWMD) would sign off on the environmental permits as part of theFederal Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements mandated forusing FDOT funding. Initial planning efforts includedsign-off from the SFWMD on design prototypes. This wasaccomplished in part by an early presentation on environmental impactsto stakeholders and a general environmental permit that was laterapproved and followed by an environmental permitting plan. The plan was designed to address overlaps in segments that were beingduplicated by consultants and a redundancy in errors. Details ofthe entire process can be found in the Implementation / Management Plandeveloped to document early efforts.
http://www.sustainable-visions.com/FKOHTPlan.htmlFederal enhancement dollars from FDOT were plugged into various trailsegments and the yearly process of applying fornew funding began. In a short fiveyear period all of the 18 historic bridges that could be gapped werefunded and are in various phases of design and construction. Funding for all remaining trail segments was completed in 2006.A total of 45 million dollars was allocated toward trails, bridges,trailheads and amenities. By 2007, over 30projects totalling over 13 million dollars had been designed andbuilt. Another30 million dollars is committed to development. See theTrails segment for a design and construction table. The layoutand extent of this effort was so successful that todays projectsare managed by a non-technical contractadministrator as they go to bidand construction.
Long Key Historic Bridge