New $20 Million Courtney Campbell Causeway Trail -- Main Bridge To Be Built In 2012

I already ride my bicycle across the Courtney Campbell Causeway. But a Florida DOT plan to build a $20 million trail across the causeway -- including a seperate $13 million span bridge on the Hillsborough County side -- will draw many more bicyclists, runners, peds etc.

A DOT rep presented the $20 million plan at yesterday's MPO Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee meeting.

The new big trail bridge on the Hillsborough County side will be built in 2012. As Bicycle Stories readers know, I already bike across the causeway but the average bicyclist does not because of the high-speed State Road 60 on the causeway, especially across the current high bridge on the Hillsborough side.

Another bridge will be built between 2014 and 2016 for the lower span on the Pinellas side.

But building a new bridge on the Hillsborough side is crucial because the current State Road 60 bridge along the causeway has a very narrow shoulder and it can be harrowing to have cars flying by at 60-70 mph a few feet from your left shoulder when biking.