St. Petersburg To Extend Pinellas Trail

St. Petersburg recently broke ground on construction for an extension of the Pinellas Trail through the Childs Park neighborhood that will connect the popular trail to neighborhood destinations in Childs Park and the Clam Bayou Estuary.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the 3-mile Clam Bayou Trail project was held in Childs Park, 43rd St and 11th Ave S. It will be done in two sections.

The first 1.4-mile section will stretch from the Pinellas Trail and 43rd Street South to the Childs Recreation Center. The second section will run from the center to 37th Street and 34th Avenue South and finally to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

After the construction, a bicyclist could travel from Tarpon Springs to St. Petersburg to Tierra Verde to the Pinellas County area near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

"We have worked very hard to create a trail system that meets the needs of our community," says former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker. The trail will provide better access to Childs Park Lake, Childs Park Recreation Center, Queen Dennis Park and Thurgood Marshall Middle School.

"This will bring people from the north end of the county to downtown St. Pete, to Childs Park to Clam Bayou," says St. Petersburg Deputy Mayor Golias Davis III.

St. Petersburg also wants to clean up the lake at Childs Park, which has gotten polluted over the years has been victim to garbage dumping. Residents cannot access the lake.

The Pinellas Trail spans 75 miles around Pinellas County and is used by about 90,000 people a month. But it is not mainly for recreation. About two-thirds of those people are using the trail to get to work or school.

Writer: Dave Szymanski

Source: St. Petersburg Deputy Mayor Golias Davis III