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.]] The Cross Florida Barge Canal was a Canal project to connect the Gulf Of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean across Florida for Barge traffic. Two sections were built, but the project was cancelled for mainly Environmental reasons. It is now a protected Green Belt corridor, one mile (1.6 km) wide in most places, known as the '''Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway'''. ROUTE The planned route of the canal followed the St. Johns River from the Atlantic coast to Palatka , the valley of the Ocklawaha River to the coastal divide, and the Withlacoochee River to the Gulf Of Mexico . About 28% of the 107-mile project was built. Namely, the cross-country section from the St. Johns River to the Oklawaha River , and part of the route along the Oklawaha, was built, as was the last bit to the Gulf Of Mexico . BRIDGES All the bridges over the St. Johns River north of the canal are high enough for ships, or have Movable Sections . High bridges were built over the canal, as well as several over the Ocklawaha River where it was not widened to the canal. The following major roads, railroads, and Locks and Dam s cross the path of the canal:
HISTORY The idea of such a canal was first proposed by Philip II Of Spain in 1567 . It was repeatedly considered over the years but found to be economically unviable. Secretary of War John Calhoun once again proposed a canal in 1818 in order to solve the losses due to shipwrecks and piracy. The Florida Railroad , finished on March 1 , 1861 , served a similar purpose, connecting the Atlantic Ocean at Fernandina to the Gulf Of Mexico at Cedar Key . In the 1930s , regional politicians lobbied the federal government to fund canal construction as an economic recovery program, and president Franklin D. Roosevelt allocated emergency funds on 1935 . Local opponents of the canal protested that the canal would deplete Florida's Aquifer s, and work was stopped a year later. It was reauthorized in 1942 as a national defense project, with Dam s and Locks to protect the underground water supply. Support for the project from Washington was sporadic, and funds were never allocated to USARE to actually start construction. Planning was once again given a go-ahead in 1963 with support from president John F. Kennedy , who allocated one million dollars to the project. The next year Lyndon Johnson set off the explosives that started construction. Opponents subsequently campaigned against the canal on environmental concerns, and the project stopped again in January 1971 . It was officially cancelled in 1991 . The Right-of-way was turned over to the state and became the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway, named in honor of the woman who led opposition to the canal. EXTERNAL LINKS
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