Along Cass Street, three-foot raised concrete dividers now separate a two-way bike lane from car traffic. As of last week, the City's part of that lane is finished from the Armory in North Hyde Park, across the Hillsborough River and through the downtown core, then into Ybor City and East Tampa. One short piece near N. 15th Street is still waiting on an FDOT contractor. On Oct. 23, 2026, the City of Tampa announced that the Green Spine Cycle Track is complete. The project took more than a decade.
For downtown, this changes Cass Street's role. It is now the one east-west street where a bike route is fully separated from cars. Cass Street is also where Tampa's next big walking project is planned. Riverwalk users still have to leave the river at Cass and cross at street level, and the passage under the Cass Street Bridge that would remove that crossing got its first engineering money in the same week the bike route was finished.
The Route, West to East
WUSF described the full alignment in its Oct. 23 report on the completion. Read west to east, it goes like this:
- Howard Avenue and Cass Street, near the Armory in North Hyde Park, where the track begins.
- W. Cass Street from Howard to Rome Avenue, the last section built. The City calls it Phase 2A. It is just over a third of a mile, construction started in October 2025, and it was finished in September 2026.
- Cass Street east toward the river. The City's 2023 project description puts the two-way path on the south side of Cass between North Boulevard and Gasparilla Plaza.
- The Cass Street Bridge, where the protected route crosses the Hillsborough River. The City connected this crossing to destinations including the Straz Center and the Tampa Museum of Art.
- Downtown to Nebraska Avenue, then Nuccio Parkway into Ybor City.
- 15th Street to Cuscaden Park at 21st Avenue in East Tampa.
The City says the route also connects to the West Riverwalk Extension at two points. One small piece near N. 15th Street remains, and an FDOT contractor will finish it after its interstate work, probably in the spring.
What the Counter at Boulevard and Cass Shows
The City runs an Eco-Counter at N. Boulevard and Cass Street, just west of the river on the downtown approach. It counted nearly 80,000 cyclists on the Green Spine in calendar year 2025. Through the City's Oct. 23, 2026 release, the 2026 count was nearly 60,000.
The 2026 figure covers less than ten months of the year and largely predates the opening of the final Cass Street section. Anyone can follow the numbers on the City's public Eco-Counter dashboard as the first months with the full route open come in.
| Green Spine figure | Value | Source window |
|---|---|---|
| Total length | 3.5 miles | City release, Oct. 23, 2026 |
| Total project cost | About $8 million | City release, Oct. 23, 2026 |
| Share covered by grants | Nearly 80% | City release, Oct. 23, 2026 |
| City funds | $1.6 million | City release, Oct. 23, 2026 |
| Cyclists counted at N. Boulevard and Cass | Nearly 80,000 | Calendar year 2025 |
| Cyclists counted at N. Boulevard and Cass | Nearly 60,000 | Jan. 1 to Oct. 23, 2026 |
The cost is also worth knowing. Grants covered most of the roughly $8 million, so the City's share of a route crossing four neighborhoods was $1.6 million.
The Crossing the Track Doesn't Fix
The Riverwalk runs north and south along the river, and the Green Spine crosses the river on Cass. Where they meet, pedestrians heading north on the Riverwalk still have to leave the waterfront and cross the intersection of Cass Street and W. Tyler Street. WUSF reported that the planned extension would remove that crossing by carrying the Riverwalk under the Cass Street Bridge and connecting it directly to the Straz Center for the Performing Arts.
On Wednesday, Oct. 21, Hillsborough County commissioners approved $200,000 for preliminary engineering design of the passage, and the City of Tampa has put in another $200,000. The Friends of Riverwalk, the nonprofit pushing the extension, says the project will ease congestion and connect pedestrians and cyclists along the Riverwalk. County Commissioner Harry Cohen explained the plan to WUSF:
"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."
The project is at an early stage. The money pays for preliminary engineering, not construction, and the extension has no set completion date. Cohen told WUSF he would like it finished within "a three or four-year window."
So the bike route across the river is finished and protected, while the walking route along the river still crosses Cass at street level. That should hold for the next several years.
Why the Underpass Runs on the Straz and Museum's Clock
Cohen tied the underpass to the two cultural institutions at the east end of the Cass Street Bridge. The Straz Center and the Tampa Museum of Art are each spending more than $100 million on renovation and expansion. He wants the passage to open "as close as possible" to when they reopen after construction.
At the Straz, the work runs under the name BOUNDLESS: the campaign for the new Straz. When construction started, the Straz said on its own blog in October 2025 that it would stay fully functional during construction. It also said Maestro's restaurant, the grab-and-go café, SteamHeat Coffee Shop and valet service would remain available. That post projected completion in 2027, and newer reporting has not set a firm reopening date. The 2026–27 Broadway season is on sale now.
The museum's expansion plan is a four-story addition of about 51,000 square feet designed by WEISS/MANFREDI Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism. The Tampa Museum of Art is still holding exhibitions and events through this fall, with dates listed into November 2026.
None of the three projects has a confirmed finish date. Their schedules are linked, though, and the Cass Street riverfront is where all three will show up first.
Where Tyler Street Is Filling In
Restaurants are opening a block off Cass. Creative Loafing reported that La Victoria, a new coastal Mexican restaurant at 105 W. Tyler St. in the former Melting Pot Social space, announced on Oct. 19 that it would open. It opened while still waiting on a City liquor license. Gus Thieken, formerly general manager of The Pearl, leads the project with real estate investor Erick Felipe Meza and executive chef Terrell Manning. The 3,800-square-foot space offers rentable "tequila lockers" where guests can store their own bottles.
Farther along Tyler, Matilde is coming to the AER building at 300 W. Tyler St. It is a Mexican steakhouse from Next Level Brands, with Culinary Director Jacob Rios leading the food program. Creative Loafing's September preview says it is aiming to open in spring 2027.
On the western end, along the newest section of track, WUSF spoke with Urban Jungalow owner Justin Basil about why the shop added a bike rack on Cass Street:
"We're a health-focused company. We intentionally installed a bike rack here because of the increase in traffic we get from, whether its cyclists, scooters, or pedestrians."
A few blocks away, Cousin Vinny's Sandwich Co. opened its first storefront at 1331 W. Cass St. in January 2025, according to Creative Loafing. In the City's release, Mayor Jane Castor said "new businesses have opened up along Cass Street" since the track went in, and that residents use it daily to bike and scooter to work and school.
Riding It Without a Bike of Your Own
The City's shared micromobility page lists Lime and Spin as the companies offering shared e-bikes and e-scooters. It also says shared micromobility vehicles may not be ridden on the Tampa Riverwalk. That page has been up for several years, so check it for the current rules before planning a route that mixes the Green Spine and the Riverwalk. In practice, a rented scooter or e-bike can use the protected track on Cass but has to leave the river path. The Cass and Tyler intersection matters to riders for that reason too. This is general information, not legal advice; the City's posted rules are the authority.
Until the underpass is engineered, funded and built, the protected route crosses the river at Cass Street, and people on the Riverwalk still cross Cass at Tyler.
If you're weighing a downtown address by how it connects to Cass Street, the Riverwalk and the cultural district taking shape around the Straz, Gasparilla Gulf Estates can walk you through how each building sits on these routes today and what the planned changes may add. Contact Us whenever you're ready to talk it through.
