by Chuck Seaver, South Lake Tablet
The City of Clermont’s West Osceola Street Parking and Trail Realignment Project is underway with a lot of progress thus far. The project, located near West Avenue, is slated for completion in late May of this year and will be finalized in two sections. The first section will focus on building a new fitness trail section for the realignment of the existing fitness trail around the new parking area. The second phase will focus on the construction of the parking area.
The new trail section has been routed around the North side of the existing South Lake Trail between Victory Way and the Salt Shack building located on Osceola Street at Eighth Street. The realignment intends to improve safety and decrease the points of potential conflict between vehicles and pedestrians/bicyclists.
The project included as many environmentally friendly changes as possible, including the large, stately oak trees that are currently on the site. According to Laurie Windham, spokesperson for the City of Clermont, only two of the six trees had to be removed. “One tree was diseased and would have been a potential safety hazard to both vehicles and pedestrians if allowed to remain and the second tree was relocated,” says Windham.
Many area residents have voiced concerns about stormwater drainage from the parking area to nearby Lake Minneola. Lake Minneola is one of the many pristine lakes that make up the beautiful Clermont Chain of Lakes. Windham states that the project includes a contained stormwater drain system that will be connected to the Victory Pointe stormwater treatment area located on West Minneola Avenue at Victory Way. “No stormwater runoff will take place directly from the parking area into Lake Minneola. The environment and the health of our chain of lakes are always a top priority when planning projects around any area of the chain of lakes,” says Windham. 
A new sidewalk is also being added to the north grounds of the Clermont Historical Village (CHV) between the existing sidewalk on West Avenue at the Village and the pedestrian walkway at Victory Pointe. The sidewalk will allow easy access from the Johnson Marketplace, 550 West Avenue, and CHV, 490 West Avenue, to the Victory Pointe Park, 1050 Victory Way, area.
A temporary trail detour will be necessary during the construction process. The detour will direct trail users one block south to the paved trail along Minneola Avenue between Eighth Street and Victory Way. The paved trail was added to the Minneola Avenue area during the recent road renovations and improvements that included brick roadways.
