Pinellas Co. planning a sidewalk to nowhere?

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida - Crews along Gandy Boulevard in St. Petersburg are preparing for a $10 million construction project that includes new bicycle paths leading to the Friendship Trail Bridge - which is closed indefinitely.

Brian Smith, Executive Director of the Pinellas County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), says a bike path along this three-mile stretch of road may not make sense now, but it's all part of the county's master plan.

Smith says the county wants 200 miles of paved paths by 2035, if not much sooner. Click here to view a map of what the area might look like when it's finished (.PDF).

"There are a lot of people now that actually count on it [bicycling] for their means of transportation," said Smith. "The idea is to give people choices."

He says 2/3 of the people who use the critically-acclaimed Pinellas Trail use it for transportation purposes, rather than recreation. The goal is to give Pinellas Co. residents a link to similar trails in Hillsborough or Pasco counties - as well as seamless transportation throughout Pinellas Co. without the dependency on automobiles.

As for the Gandy project, which is paid for by state and federal funds, even if the Friendship Trail is never re-opened, officials hope to create a safe way for people to travel across Tampa Bay. It could include a seperate lane for pedestrians and cyclists on the new Gandy Bridge.

The project is scheduled to break ground in Summer 2010 and will repave 3 miles of Gandy Blvd. between the bridges and 4th Street N. It will also add sidewalks and drainage improvements.