Lee Commissioners award contract for SUN Trail project, name Pendergrass chair

Nov 18, 2025 2 min read

The Lee County Board of County Commissioners have voted to name Cecil Pendergrass as the new chair of the board. File photo

The Lee County Board of County Commissioners voted Tuesday to award a contract to provide design services for the Estero Boulevard SUN Trail that will connect Fort Myers Beach with Bonita Springs.

This project will design and permit a 12-foot-wide trail, about 3.25 miles long, that will connect Fort Myers Beach and Bonita Springs along Estero Boulevard from the Big Hickory Pass Bridge to the Big Carlos Pass Bridge, Lee County officials announced Tuesday.

The $1.26 million contract is with Kisinger Campo & Associates Corp. The design phase of the project is expected to take about 18 months.

Established in 2015, the Florida Shared-Use Non-motorized (SUN) Trail program receives an annual allocation from the redistribution of new vehicle tag revenues. For more information on the state program go to https://www.fdot.gov/planning/systems/systems-management/SUNTrail

 The state originally provided $555,095 funding for this design. After final negotiations with the vendor, the state has agreed to add $705,783 to fully fund the design phase.

In other action Tuesday, commissioners approved an agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to allocate $4 million in federal funding for the Project Development and Environmental (PD&E) Study to replace the Big Hickory, Little Carlos and New Pass Bridges.

The replacement of these bridges is a Tier Two priority project as adopted by the Board of County Commissioners. All three bridges were built in 1965 and have reached the end of their design life, although they remain safe for motorists. The bridges are considered outdated due to the lack of pathways and sufficient shoulders. The new bridges will be designed with multiuse paths to tie into the SUN Trail project.

The bid is expected to be advertised in February and will include design phases and design/build criteria elements. The PD&E contract will be brought to the Board for final approval.

Commissioners also voted to name Cecil Pendergrass as board chair and David Mulicka as vice chair. The board rotates chairs each year.