Bonita's Rail Trail Clock Hasn't Started Yet. Here's What Starts It.

Bonita Springs voters approved the Bonita Estero Rail Trail bond on August 18 by a wide margin. The tracks behind downtown still belong to the railroad. The vote decided how Bonita would pay its share. The timeline everyone has been quoting since then, "two plus years," starts on a different date. That date is the day the corridor actually changes hands. On September 23, the Village of Estero pushed it back.

So the trail is funded, but the work that leads to opening hasn't started. Here is what has to happen first.

The Vote Filled the Last Gap in a $60 Million Purchase

Bonita's ballot question was the final piece of a three-way funding deal. As the News-Press reported, the $35 million bond referendum passed with 68.23% of the vote, 8,968 yes to 4,175 no. The Trust for Public Land, the national land conservation nonprofit that negotiated the deal, said the result provided the final funding needed for the $60 million corridor purchase. Estero and Collier County had already approved their portions.

The corridor is owned by Seminole Gulf Railway. The purchase phase covers 11.4 miles, running from Estero Parkway in Estero south to the Cemex plant at the eastern end of Wiggins Pass Road in Collier County, according to the Trust for Public Land's February 18 announcement. Each government is paying for its own stretch:

Bonita has the longest segment, a little more than half of the 11.4 miles. That is why the city's vote was the one that decided whether the purchase could go ahead at all.

Where the Line Runs Through Bonita

There is no street-by-street trail design yet. The corridor itself is already in place. The interactive map from Friends of the Bonita Estero Rail Trail shows it running past downtown Bonita and Riverside Park and crossing Oak Creek. Farther north it crosses the Estero River. The map also shows planned connections north toward the John Yarbrough Trail and south toward the Paradise Coast Trail. The long-term goal is for BERT to become one link in the Florida Gulf Coast Trail network.

Friends of BERT is the citizen group that pushed the idea onto the ballot. It describes itself as an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) formed in September 2022 with more than 4,000 members. In August, BERT board member and architect Nathalie White told WINK News that she sees the project as a "corridor of activity" linking downtown areas, parks, businesses, residential communities and natural areas. She also said the final design is far from set.

The Date Everything Else Counts From

Before a government buys land, it does the same checks a home buyer does. Douglas Hattaway, Southeast Region Conservation Director for the Trust for Public Land, made that comparison to WINK News. The appraisal tests the price, title work confirms ownership, a boundary survey fixes the edges and an environmental assessment looks for contamination. In August he said several of those steps were already done. The rest were expected to wrap up by the end of September, with closing targeted for October. Friends of BERT gave the same October target in its June 26 update.

Then, on September 23, the Estero Village Council approved a first amendment to its purchase agreement with the Trust for Public Land. The amendment extends both the inspection period and the closing date "to allow additional time to complete due diligence and coordination for the project." The village's summary does not give a new closing date.

Bonita's own financing is also still moving through City Hall. At the September 9 council meeting, the clerk read an ordinance authorizing up to $35 million in general obligation bonds to buy the corridor and build the trail. That was a first reading only. Staff said a bond resolution would come back with the second reading.

As of Estero's September 23 action, the latest public step on the purchase, the corridor has not changed hands and no new closing date has been published. Until it closes, the clocks below have not started.

What Happens After Closing, in Order

Every estimate officials have given counts forward from the closing date:

1. Closing. Ownership of the corridor moves from Seminole Gulf Railway to the public partners.
2. Track removal. The railroad then has up to two years to take out the rails, WINK reported.
3. Design, at the same time. The city plans to do engineering and design while the tracks come out, so construction can start soon after. Friends of BERT's June estimate put the design phase at 18 to 24 months after acquisition.
4. Groundbreaking and construction. Construction is expected to take at least a year once the rails are gone.
5. Phased openings, possibly. Parts of the trail could open in sections. Where construction starts will depend on the design work.

Gibson, speaking for the city, put the whole sequence in one sentence for WINK News:

"It's going to be two plus years, so they have two years to vacate the railway, and then we'll break ground, and it's probably going to be at least a year of construction."

Put together, the sequence is track removal of up to two years, followed by at least a year of construction, and design overlaps with the first stage. No official opening date has been set. Each month closing slips moves the whole schedule back by the same amount.

What the Bond Costs, in the Estimates So Far

The yes vote raised a property tax to repay the bond. No bonds have been issued yet, so all the cost figures so far are estimates. Gulfshore Business reported that city staff estimated about $4.75 a month per average resident. A financial adviser estimated $49 to $88 a year for a homeowner with an average-valued home. That estimate assumed $30 million to $45 million in bonds repaid over 30 years through property taxes.

The actual amount on a tax bill will depend on how much the city borrows and on what terms, and the bond resolution that sets that has not reached council yet. Treat these numbers as general information, not tax or financial advice. Lee County's tax notices and a tax professional can tell you what applies to your own property.

Where to Ride While the Rails Are Still There

The corridor will stay railroad property for a while, but there are two ways to ride near it this fall.

The 4th Annual Ride for BERT is on Sunday, November 15, 2026, in Estero. It offers 15-mile and 30-mile routes, and proceeds go to the rail trail effort. Registration is on the Ride for BERT event page. That page describes a 14.9-mile corridor reaching Alico Road, which is the group's broader long-term vision. The purchase now underway is the 11.4-mile phase.

To the south, the Paradise Coast Trail that BERT is meant to connect to has already opened its first section. Naples Pathways Coalition reported that the first paved stretch of about seven miles opened on July 30, 2026, for walking, running and cycling. It runs along the north side of the Vanderbilt Beach Road Extension from Collier Boulevard/951 to 16th Street NE. For now, it is the closest working example of the trail network Bonita just voted to join.

Closer to home, City Council adopted Bonita's Parks Master Plan on September 9. Staff added BERT and SUN Trail projects to it, a step required by the CDBG grant that funded the BERT planning work. That means the trail is now written into the city's long-term parks plan, even before the city owns the land. The step to watch next is a closing date on a council agenda. That date starts the clock on track removal, which can run up to two years.

If you're weighing a home near the corridor, or you're managing a Bonita property from out of state and want to understand how the trail could change your part of town, Leonor Enguita can walk the route with you in person or by video, in English or Spanish. Book a free relocation consultation and we'll keep you posted on the BERT milestones as they happen.