Florida Senate - 2019                                     SB 872
       
       
        
       By Senator Gruters
       
       
       
       
       
       23-01566-19                                            2019872__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to transportation facility
    3         designations; providing an honorary designation of a
    4         certain transportation facility in a specified county;
    5         directing the Department of Transportation to erect
    6         suitable markers; providing an effective date.
    7  
    8         WHEREAS, the Florida Shared-Use Nonmotorized Trail Network
    9  was a concept developed by Senate President Andy Gardiner and
   10  the Transportation Committee Staff Director Kurt Eichin in 2015
   11  and 2016 to close the gaps of existing trails used by cyclists
   12  and walkers across the state of Florida, and
   13         WHEREAS, a yearly appropriation of $25 million is available
   14  to communities to establish these connector trails, in order to
   15  encourage Floridians to be more physically active and enjoy more
   16  of the Florida sunshine, and
   17         WHEREAS, these trails, as authorized under s. 339.81,
   18  Florida Statutes, will eventually create the Coast to Coast
   19  Connector that will reach from Brevard County to Pinellas
   20  County, and
   21         WHEREAS, a native of Brevard County, Kurt Eichin was an
   22  avid cyclist and lover of all things Florida, and
   23         WHEREAS, sadly, on July 4, 2016, Kurt died after a hard
   24  fought battle with cancer, and it is the intent of the
   25  Legislature to name the section of the Coast to Coast Connector
   26  in Brevard County in Kurt’s memory, NOW, THEREFORE,
   27  
   28  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   29  
   30         Section 1. Kurt Eichin Memorial Trail designated;
   31  Department of Transportation to erect suitable markers.—
   32         (1) That portion of the Coast to Coast Connector in Brevard
   33  County is designated as the “Kurt Eichin Memorial Trail.”
   34         (2) The Department of Transportation is directed to erect
   35  suitable markers designating the Kurt Eichin Memorial Trail as
   36  described in subsection (1).
   37         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.