Plans are moving ahead for a recreational trail reaching through Central Florida from the Gulf of Mexico to Atlantic Ocean.

The Department of Transportation is launching a study to determine the trail’s path through Sumter County.

Spanning 275 miles, the Coast-to-Coast Connector Trail will be the state’s longest paved, multi-use trail.

Jim Wood of the Department of Transportation says it mostly knits smaller trails together.

“It has built upon a lot of existing trails that over time have been kind of reaching out to one another, and now we’re looking at these gaps and trying to close these gaps to make this into a complete connected trail from east to west coast.”

The study will determine how the trail will connect Sumter, Hernando and Pasco counties. It’s expected to be done in June 2016.

The Coast-to-Coast Connector Trail will stretch from St. Petersburg to Canaveral National Seashore. Wood says the target date for completion is about five years.