Tampa's Riverwalk Grows Toward RNC In 2012

As one of her last acts as mayor, Pam Iorio and Tampa business leaders celebrated the groundbreaking of the next building phase of Tampa's Riverwalk on March 29. The 550-foot stretch is one of three pieces needed to complete the 1.8 mile walkway that snakes along downtown Tampa's waterfront on the banks of the Hillsborough River.

The two segments currently under construction are the Brorein Street Underpass and the BB&T property. The project will extend the waterfront pedestrian walkway from USF Park another 550 feet to the north via an under-the-bridge pathway and then overland up to the CapTrust Building.

Lee Hoffman, Riverwalk's development manager, says the project will take the Riverwalk over the water.

"We need to go around the Cap Building, which goes all the way out into the water. So we need to go around it. That leaves only one more gap -- underneath the Kennedy Bridge to connect to Curtis Hixon Park."

Hoffman says the project is scheduled to be completed by 2012.

"Certainly by next spring," he says. "That will provide a significant pathway in time for the Republican National Convention in 2012."

After this phase is completed, Hoffman says, there will be one last section.

"We need funding to take care of that last gap," he says. "I've already designed it and permitted it. Now all I need is funding to get it done."

Temporary signage guides pedestrians along the pathway under construction, so they can still walk 1.8 miles. "It's just a smaller sidewalk to get there," says Hoffman.

Writer: Missy Kavanaugh
Source: Lee Hoffman, City of Tampa