The High Springs City Commission heard updates on the Bridlewood residential development and a rails-to-trails project during a regular meeting on Thursday.

Chris Potts, Bridlewood’s principal engineer from LJA Engineering, said the project was getting back on track after multiple delays.  

Approved by the City Commission in October 2022, Bridlewood is set to bring a 2,000-unit subdivision to High Springs.   

Potts said the survey stakes currently on the property are from Duke Energy as they install a conduit, which was delayed due to shifting crews and other emergencies. He also said Zito Media is bringing fiber from Newberry so that Bridlewood residents will have fiber internet. 

Potts said Bridlewood’s State Road 45 entrance will have a roundabout, but that it’s waiting for the Florida Department of Transportation to complete the right-of-way dedication process. 

“It takes quite a bit of time, but we’re anticipating, hopefully, getting that roundabout underway probably February, March, and then houses will be hopefully coming up in the summertime,” he said. 

Erica Hernandez represented the Trust for Public Land, the national non-profit working to create a 13-mile trail connecting Newberry and High Springs.  

Hernandez said Trust for Public Land has already negotiated a contract with CSX railroad company and the non-profit has ordered its title work to head towards the inspection part of the process. She said the goal is to complete the acquisition process by October to avoid construction costs going up. 

The trail will run along the High Springs corridor, starting at the Alachua County side of the Santa Fe River and heading east through High Springs, ending at NW 222nd Street.  

Hernandez said it would bridge a gap in the Nature Coast State Trail, which links communities like Cross City, Trenton, Fanning Springs and Chiefland. Plans for the current project stop at State Road 46 because CSX still owns three miles of the trail near downtown Newberry.  

She presented studies showing potential property value increases between 4% and 20% around trails like the High Springs corridor, economic and health benefits for residents and tourists, all without big stakes for the city. 

Hernandez said Alachua County has agreed to be the trail manager and that the project is also a priority for the state as it considers funding. 

“You don’t have to own it, you don’t have to manage it, but it’s still yours, and it’s something that you can really have some social cohesion around and can be a real kind of a gathering space, essentially,” Hernandez said.