GAINESVILLE - The Alachua County Commission overturned one of it's previous rulings on Tuesday night, as it voted a second time on plans for a bike trail that many thought had been decided earlier this year.

 

Back in September, the commission voted 3-to-2 in favor of abandoning plans to run the Archer Braid Trail through Haile Plantation. But in the wake of last month's elections, the new chairman of the commission, Mike Byerly, put the issue back on the agenda. 

 

"We can either build these facilities on roads that don't have safe facilities with our share of federal money, or build a redundant system that makes no sense using our money," said Byerly during Tuesday's meeting. Byerly has been an outspoken supporter of  running the trail through Haile. But opponents of running the trail through Haile Plantation say its expensive and unnecessary. 

 

The final vote was 3-to-2 in favor of running the trail through Haile, with the deciding vote cast by newly-elected commissioner Chuck Chestnut. 

 

Now that a final decision has been reached, the county must deliver its plan to the state Department of Transportation by March, in order to keep that federal funding.