A critical extension of the Tampa Riverwalk that will connect the popular trail directly to the Straz Center for the Performing Arts is moving forward.
Hillsborough County commissioners on Wednesday agreed to spend $200,000 to support the preliminary engineering design of the extension, which would run under the Cass Street bridge.
Tampa leaders have contributed another $200,000 to the project.
The extension will eliminate a dangerous traverse for pedestrians who now have to leave the river and cross Cass Street At W. Tyler Street. That intersection has seen 15 pedestrian incidents between January 2020 and December 2024.
The Friends of Riverwalk, a non-profit organization that has led the extension effort, said in a statement it will help reduce congestion and improve safety.
“Our organization has been working to advance this project, which would provide a safer, more seamless connection for pedestrians and cyclists along the Tampa Riverwalk,” the statement said.
Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen said the county will work with the city to help extend the walkway out over the river and under the Cass Street Bridge.
“We've put together some money to essentially study and plan for what it would take to put a passageway under the Cass Street Bridge that would allow people to bypass this … intersection and basically have a continuous riverwalk all the way going north,” Cohen said.
The project comes as the Straz Center and the Tampa Museum of Art are each spending over $100 million to renovate and expand.
While there is no set date for when the Riverwalk extension would be complete, Cohen says he would like the process to begin right away so it can finish around the same time as the Straz and art museum reopenings.
“The time to plan for this and do it is now, and to try to get it open at least as close as possible to when those things reopen after their work is done,” Cohen said. “So I would say it's a three or four-year window in which I'd like to see this be completed.”
The walkway is also being extended on the west side of the river. The West River BUILD Project began last year and will help connect downtown with Bayshore Boulevard.
Cohen says he is looking forward to continuing to expand the Riverwalk decades into the future so residents and visitors can enjoy the public space for miles.
“You never know how far it can go,” he said. “It could make it all the way up to Sligh Avenue, and that would be another great thing to tie in to this really unique amenity that we have now, this long river walk.”
