TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and other city officials gathered Wednesday afternoon in West Tampa to announce the completion of a new redesign for Cass Street.
The new design connects West Tampa, the University of Tampa and downtown. In a statement, city officials said the completed project will fill a "critical gap in the city's Green Spine Cycle Track with safer connections for walking and cycling, and driving."
In the past five years, there have been more than 50 crashes along this segment of Cass Street, including one death and one severe injury, according to the statement.
"This isn't just one street in one neighborhood. This fills the missing link in our city's premier cycle track, the Green Spine, and marks a new approach to Tampa's roads to connect more people with jobs, schools, recreation, and opportunities," Castor said in a statement. "With the right plan and playbook, we can make our streets safer while creating streets as places."
Some of the improvements include dedicated right and left turns into the Tampa Prep parking lot and a left turn lane into the University of Tampa, continuing the cycle track across the Cass Street Bridge, separated with bike curbing and vertical delineators, redesigned part of the intersection of North Boulevard and Cass Street and more.