A picture says it better than a proposal. On the left: the Stub Canal bank today, looking toward the I-95 overpass. On the right: a concept of what a finished greenway could feel like.
Today
A wide, unshaded strip of turf that browns in the dry season. There is no path, so people walk the lawn or a dirt track. The canal bank drops steeply to the water with almost nothing growing on it. The only shade is on the house side.
The vision
PPNA's concept organizes the corridor into simple zones, from the homes to the water:
- Open lawn (~22 ft) for play and picnics, anchored by the mature trees already there.
- A 10-ft multi-use path for walking and biking, built of one material the whole length.
- A native planting buffer (~18 ft) of palms, low shrubs and flowering natives that won't block views of the water.
- A vegetated canal bank, regraded to a gentle slope and planted with deep-rooted natives like cocoplum, beautyberry and muhly grass to hold the soil and filter runoff.
- Pedestrian-scale, dark-sky lighting (about 12 ft tall) on the neighborhood side of the path.
- Three stops along the way: an entrance plaza, a shaded rest area mid-corridor, and an overlook at the pedestrian bridge near I-95.
Built to be low-water
The suggested palette favors plants that need little irrigation once established:
Live Oak and Gumbo Limbo for the canopy,
Small Leaf Clusia and cocoplum for structure, and
Coontie, host plant of the rare atala butterfly. A temporary drip system would carry new plantings through their first year.
What happens next
This is a concept, not a construction plan. Any real design needs a survey, sign-off from the agencies that manage the canal, and a Florida-licensed landscape architect working with neighbors in community workshops. Those are Phases 2 and 3 of the proposal. Phase 1, the cleanup, starts with us. All the details are in the
draft proposal (PDF).
Email
info@pineapplepark.us (subject: Stub Canal) to help.
See
Part 1 - Meet the Stub Canal: The 1918 Waterway That Could Become Pineapple Park's Greenway
See
Part 2 - Volunteers Wanted: Help Us Clean Up the Stub Canal
