ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A plan to turn the land under Interstate 275 into a strip of parks and trails will be in front of trail builders from across Florida this week, when the Florida Greenways and Trails Summit comes to St. Petersburg on Monday and Tuesday.
The two-day gathering runs from roughly 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, with a reception on Monday evening. Online sign-ups have closed, but people can still register in person at the desk starting at 7:45 a.m. Monday. More than two dozen speakers are on the program, covering trail design and construction, community outreach, the money trails bring to local economies and links to the Florida Wildlife Corridor. This year also marks 25 years for the foundation that hosts it.
One of those speakers is John Barkett, president of Friends of Trails Crossing, who is set to join a Tuesday panel on reusing space beneath highways alongside people working on similar ideas in Orlando and Jacksonville.
His group’s project, Trails Crossing, would reshape about 12 acres under I-275 along the Pinellas Trail, stretching north from Fifth Avenue S. as far as Burlington Avenue N. The $55 million master plan, which the St. Petersburg City Council accepted unanimously, calls for walking and biking paths, playgrounds, public art, stages, markets and green infrastructure in place of parking lots and empty ground.
The plan is a framework, not a city construction bill. The nonprofit, founded in 2022, intends to raise the money in phases through federal and state grants, donors, sponsors and program revenue. No start date has been set, and because the state transportation department owns the land under the interstate, existing agreements with the city would have to change before building begins.
Section: More St. Petersburg FL events news
Filed under: St. Petersburg FL Events News
