Where the pavement ends
A trail extension in St. Petersburg will help link Tarpon Springs to Tampa Bay.
By JON WILSON
Published January 15, 2006
ST. PETERSBURG - Herb Hiller knows trails. He bicycles them, he fights for them, he writes about them.
Plans to extend the county's 34-mile Pinellas Trail into downtown St. Petersburg thrill him.
Late last month, a national, nonprofit land trust bought the remaining 2.1 miles of an old CSX rail bed leading from the trail's terminus on 34th Street S to the heart of downtown.
The trail will be extended east to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street S. Another mile of dedicated trail will be defined by a barrier along First Avenue S, taking the route on to Demens Landing.
The Trust for Public Land's $4.75-million purchase is a major step toward realizing the long-standing vision to connect the Tampa Bay waterfront in St. Petersburg to downtown Tarpon Springs.
The link could be open in less than five years, officials say.
"I definitely think it's going to happen," said Brian Smith, Pinellas County's planning chief.
Hiller, who lives near Palatka, is a fan of the Pinellas Trail on its own merits. But he takes an even wider view.
"I think that's just a first-rate thing that's going to happen. But as good as that is, what's even better, you're going to have a trail that will connect St. Pete with St. Augustine, that's the hot ticket," Hiller said.
Last week, he was busy meeting with government officials to champion a trail between Palatka and DeLand.
Hiller, 74, has examined the Pinellas Trail closely, biking it from end to end and making an overnight stop at Green Gables, a Dunedin bed-and-breakfast.
His vision is that the trail will link with a series of other pathways through Florida - the Suncoast, Withlacoochee and Cross Florida trails, for example - all the way to the east coast.
The extension also will install another piece of what is envisioned as an eventual 80-mile Pinellas Trail loop, still in the drawing board stage. It will circle the top of the county and plunge south to link with a planned Progress Energy trail into the northern reaches of St. Petersburg.
In the fall, Hiller wrote an article for Land and People, the trust's magazine, calling the Pinellas Trail one of the nation's most successful rail trails.
Built along other CSX sections through Pinellas, the trail opened in 1990. According to county government, between 80,000 and 100,000 people use the trail each month. They bike, walk, run and skate.
A significant percentage of people use the trail not purely for recreation, but to get from place to place on business or social excursions, Smith said.
The Trust for Public Land is an old hand at paving the way.
Founded in 1972, it has helped protect more than 200,000 acres in Florida alone, according to its Web site. It recently worked on rail-trail conversions in Leesburg, Tallahassee and Sarasota.
Its experience is one reason it can act as a go-between for property owners and governments. The trust takes over complex rail bed title searches, in addition to guiding the acquisition process, a complicated network of grants and government purchases.
In this case, said trust property manager Becky Neilsen, "CSX actually approached us."
The Florida Department of Transportation, which administers federal money for the purchase, will buy the rail bed from the trust, a formality expected in about two months.
Ultimately, the department will convey ownership to St. Petersburg.
It will take about $6-million to build the extension from 34th Street to Demens Landing, said Joseph Kubicki, St. Petersburg's transportation planning director. The money is being sought through federal sources, and its arrival will drive the project's starting date.
The work will include an overpass across U.S. 19 near Eighth Avenue S. Asphalt will have to be installed to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street.
From there to Demens Landing, a short, concrete barrier will be installed along the south side of First Avenue S, separating a 10- to 12-foot dedicated trail from parking spaces.
The design phase is paid for and could start in three or four months, Kubicki said.
"Now that we've linked the city of St. Petersburg into the rest of Pinellas, I'd expect the numbers of users will increase," said Neilsen, the trust project manager.
The St. Petersburg Clay Co. and the historic 22nd Street S and Grand Central business districts are expected to benefit from trail access. Gibbs High School and the Pinellas-Technical Education Center will have a trail link to the east.
Retail shops serving trail users are likely to emerge, Kubicki said.
It has happened before. Dunedin's downtown has enjoyed a resurgence, partly because of the trail.
Tarpon Springs, meanwhile, considers the trail a major element of its efforts to rejuvenate its old business district.
"It's part of our historic downtown," said Charles Attardo, the city's business services specialist.
He cited the trail's proximity to the library, cultural center, Classic Corvettes and Collectibles Inc., and St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral.
Last year, a city project beautified a section of Safford Avenue, which cuts through the middle of the trail.
"We anticipate a whole lot of activity," Attardo said.