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Posted by Bryant Roberts on 19:53:50 03/05/11
I went to Loop Road today and road my bicycle from Pinecrest to the Gator Hook Strand trailhead and back. A stop on my way there along the Tamiami Trail at the abandoned airboat ride parking area produced Snail Kites and Limpkins and I saw my first of season Swallow-tailed Kite flying over the paved section of Loop Road. Shortly after parking in front of the Pinecrest Educational Center I spotted a Fox Squirrel crossing the road and the bridge to the Tree Snail Trail. The most interesting birds seen during the bike ride were a Louisiana Waterthrush near a culvert southeast of the Sweetwater Strand Bridge and Brown-headed Nuthatches in the pinelands west of Pinecrest.
Most of the unpaved part of Loop Road is closed to motor vehicles because of the repair and construction project which will continue until mid June. It should be open from then until work resumes in November. I spoke with several people on the construction crew and none knew of any plans to pave the road. The current project is to install new culverts under the road, raise the grade by six inches, and raise the side walls of the bridge at Sweetwater Strand to accommodate the raised grade. The culvert work is scheduled to begin next week and the road will likely be closed to all through traffic while this is going on.
While on the subject of road closures; due to work to restore a more natural water flow through Picayune Strand State Forest, the roads from the northwest end of Jane s Scenic Drive in Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park through the eastern part of Picayune Strand State Forest will be closed until May.
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