Trail by Maitland Sunrail station to cost $300,000

The City of Maitland is paying $300,000 for a new sidewalk that is not even a half mile long, and its driving up the cost of Sunrail.

The sidewalk connects the Sunrail station in Maitland to Greenwood Gardens, the neighborhood right behind the station.

 "It actually goes over an area that is a little bit of a retention pond so it's going to be somewhat elevated, and then of course you've got to have the railing for safety, and then because of the operation of the rail station actually occurs, especially during the winter, during dark hours, and both during the morning and the evening we are going to have to have some kind of pedestrian and security lighting along the way," said Rick Lemke, the Maitland Public Works Director.

Maitland originally planned for the trail to cost $100,000.

One of the biggest reasons why this job is going to cost the city of Maitland 3 times what it was going to cost is because it crosses the the Sunrail Corridor, which means lots more rules for people building the sidewalk.

 "There's railroad safety awareness, there's a certification process, and all of those workers are going to have that training before they can actually get on that job and work, so that's an extra cost we really had not expected," Lemke said.

Maitland's Sunrail station is the least used station on the enitre Sunrail route.