to the Army Corps to actually start construction. Planning was once again given the go-ahead in 1963 with support from President John F. Kennedy, who allocated one million dollars to the project. The next year, President Lyndon Johnson set off the explosives that started construction. It was intended that the canal, along with the St. Johns-Indian River Barge Canal, would provide a quicker and safer route across Florida by 1971. Opponents subsequently campaigned against the canal on environmental grounds, and a lawsuit was filed against the Army Corps by the Florida Defenders of the Environment and the Environmental Defense Fund. The lawsuit resulted in a temporary injunction against the project in January 1971 and days later was halted by President Richard Nixon's signing of an executive order. Approximately $74 million had been spent on the project up until the 1971 cessation of activities. The project was officially deauthorized by Congress in 1990, and the lands were turned over to the state of Florida for use as public conservation and recreation area, becoming the Cross Florida Greenway State Recreation and Conservation Area in 1991. In 1998, the land was renamed the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway in honor of Marjorie Harris Carr, who had led opposition to the canal with the organization she co-founded, Florida Defenders of the Environment. Carr had died the prior year at age 82. Canal 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 (172 km) project was built—the cross-country section from the St. Johns River to the Ocklawaha River, part of the route along the Ocklawaha, and a small section at the Gulf of Mexico end up to the dammed Lake Rousseau. Economic impact The canal was intended to connect the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway with the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway at Withlacoochee Bay near Yankeetown. The military and economic impact was expected to be tremendous in that it "... promote the national defense and to promptly facilitate and protect the transport of materials and supplies needful to the Military Establishment...." The canal was intended to save travel time and distance for shipping companies by avoiding the longer route through the Florida Straits and link Florida's inland waterways to both coasts. Bridges and