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BONITA SPRINGS — A walking path along the Imperial River is one step closer to becoming reality.

Bonita Springs City Council on Wednesday approved an agreement with the Lee County commissioners for the county to buy the needed property for the linear park in exchange for the city performing all the necessary maintenance and signage.

The Imperial River path, when complete, will extend roughly two miles from the Flamingo Island Flea Market to east of Interstate 75. The long-term plan is for a hiking, possibly biking, path to extend from Riverside Park on Old 41 Road to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, and it could connect to a similar planned path in Collier County.

With the property acquired from Carpenter Lane, Bonita needs only two more small properties for one continuous path. Once all the necessary land is under city control, the natural walking path still needs to be constructed through the wilderness.

NO HOLE IN THE WALL: Accessing Imperial Parkway in Bonita Springs is hard even for walkers and bicyclists. City Council decided Wednesday afternoon not to put a hole in the barrier wall so people could use the sidewalk on the new north-south thoroughfare in Bonita.

Bonita and Lee County have constructed protective walls in residential areas along Imperial Parkway to prevent cars from driving over the curb and to reduce noise and light pollution from the new road.

The council considered trying to put a break in the wall so the sidewalk could be accessed, but realized that providing a gate or a hole where a person but not a car could fit through was not an easy fix.

Imperial Parkway opened to traffic in January and was hailed as a way to relieve traffic congestion on U.S. 41 and Interstate 75. It is only accessible by car at three locations in Bonita: East Terry Street, Dean Street and Bonita Beach Road, which are all within a mile of each other.

REMEMBERING 9/11: Bonita Springs will host a Sept. 11 ceremony in Riverside Park.

The Patriot’s Day ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. and last roughly one hour at the park at Old 41 Road and Pennsylvania Avenue. Despite being short of cash for special events, the Bonita City Council has allocated $2,500 for the event.

The ceremony is part of the legacy of former Mayor Jay Arend, who was voted out of office in April. Arend felt the terrible and heroic acts on Sept. 11, 2001 shouldn’t be forgotten and felt a city ceremony would keep the tragedy in people’s minds.