Widening of 26 to four lanes will come right through Trenton

By Cindy Jo Ayers

Greg Garrett, senior planner with PBS&J, is shown discussing maps of the proposed route SR 26 will take through Trenton after it is four-laned.

Bill Henderson and Debra Miller of the Florida Department of Transportation attended the Monday Trenton City Commission meeting along with Greg Garrett of PBS&J.
The purpose of the visit was to reveal the plans for the widening of SR 26 between Fanning Springs and Newberry.
Miller said they started out with 32 alternatives for bringing the new four-lane through or around Trenton. She said that the Citizens Advisory Committee had met several times and the final decision was to bring the four-lane directly through Trenton.
The road will reduce from 230 feet in rural stretches of the road to 128 feet at Trenton Elementary on the west side of Trenton and expand again just after the historic Haigler home on the east side of town. The road would expand on the north side of the street through Trenton. The north side is the side where Capital City Bank and First Baptist Church are located.
On the south side of town, or the Trenton Elementary side, the new road will expand to the south side or the opposite side of the Greenway Trail. On the north side of Trenton the road will expand to the north because of the power lines. Through the middle of town the road will expand to the north side
Garrett told the commissioners that there are 6 segments for the widening, and at this time it looks like the work will begin in Newberry and head south to Trenton.
Garrett said that the Citizens Advisory Committee for Newberry did not want the road to come through Newberry so the plans are for the four-lane to bypass Newberry on the north side. The bypass will begin about the Gilchrist/Alachua county line.
Henderson told the Commissioners that the preferred alternatives were now established but the bad news is there is no money in the Department of Transportation budget for the next phase which is the detail design plans. He went on to say like everyone else the economy has limited their funding at DOT and funding for the next phase may be as far out as five or more years.
Henderson said he actually has no idea when the paving project will get underway. He said this is an important road because if a couple more stretches were four-laned it would mean that there would be an east west connection all four-laned from St. Augustine to Highway 19, therefore making it an important addition to the Florida Interstate Highway System.
At this point it is expected that the cost to four-lane through Trenton will be about $22 million. The entire project for all six segments from Newberry through Trenton to Fanning would be around $200 million.