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St. Pete to Titusville Bike Route Closer to Reality

Trail Photo

By JOHN GREGG, Correspondent, TB Reporter

Work is progressing to close a gap in the 275-mile path.

Construction on a small gap in the ambitious 275-mile Coast-to-Coast Connector bike trail, which will stretch from St. Petersburg to Titusville on Florida’s east coast, is well under way and closer to completion in north Pinellas County.

A portion of the seven-mile section which will connect the northern-most terminus of the Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail at the corner of Keystone Road and East Lake Road in Tarpon Springs with the Starkey Boulevard Trail near the Pasco County line has been under construction since May of last year.

Parts of the trail which run parallel to Keystone Road are nearly ready for paving, including sections on both sides of Brooker Creek Preserve, with other portions expected to be ready later this Spring.

A $15-million designation from the Department of Transportation Trust Fund in 2014 has been funding the project, which is expected to cost $3,939,300. When completed, the Coast-to-Coast Connector will be the longest continuous bike trail in Florida.

The Coast-to-Coast project is just one of several under way in Pinellas County that will benefit area cyclists, walkers and runners. In October of last year, the state granted $5.7-million to another project that will connect an 8.26-mile segment between the end of the PInellas Trail at John E. Chesnut Park in Palm Harbor and the Duke Energy Trail at Enterprise Road in Clearwater. Also in October of last year, $1.4-million was earmarked to begin development on a pedestrian overpass connecting to the Courtney Campbell Causeway Trail at Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard.

For information about the Coast-to-Coast Connector, go to fgtf.org.

Photo by John Gregg, Correspondent, TB Reporter

Pinellas | St. Petersburg  | Coast to Coast Connector | Bike Trails | TB Reporter

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