On October 23, the City of Tampa announced that the Green Spine Cycle Track is complete. It is a 3.5-mile, two-way bike route with three-foot raised concrete dividers between cyclists and drivers. It runs from North Hyde Park through the downtown core and Ybor City into East Tampa, as far as E. 21st Street. For anyone who lives downtown, the word "complete" is a little odd. The protected lane on Cass Street outside your building is the oldest part of the route.
What arrived this fall is the stretch past the end of that lane. The downtown track used to be a good piece of infrastructure that ran out. Now it sits in the middle of a continuous route, so a ride that starts on Cass can head west into North Hyde Park or east into Ybor on one connected route, protected track nearly the whole way and a shared-use sidewalk for its final blocks.
The Downtown Piece Came First
The City's project page for the Cass and Tyler two-way conversion lays out what downtown got. A two-way cycle track runs on the south side of Cass Street from Ashley Drive to Nebraska Avenue. Brick paving on Tyler Street was reset, and the old one-way pair, Cass eastbound and Tyler westbound, became two-way streets. The cycle track officially opened on June 11, 2016.
So downtown has had its stretch for more than ten years. What it lacked was a protected connection at both ends. The City's own release says the Green Spine took "more than a decade" of planning, design and construction to finish.
The Last Third of a Mile
The final piece, which the City calls Phase 2A, runs along W. Cass Street between N. Howard and N. Rome avenues, a little over a third of a mile. Construction started in October 2025 and finished in September. It's a short segment. Until it was built, though, a protected ride west out of downtown hit a gap before it reached North Hyde Park.
The whole project cost roughly $8 million. Grants covered nearly 80 percent of that, and the remaining $1.6 million came from City funds. One small piece is still unfinished. A segment near N. 15th Street, at the Ybor end, will be built by an FDOT contractor, likely in the spring, after its interstate work wraps up.
Counting Bikes Just Across the River
The City keeps an Eco-Counter at N. Boulevard and Cass Street, the first big intersection west of the Cass Street Bridge. It counted nearly 80,000 cyclists on the Green Spine in 2025. As of the City's October 23 release, the 2026 count was nearly 60,000, with about two months still to go. The City publishes the live counter data for anyone who wants to check the latest figure.
The counter's location matters. It sits on the route a downtown rider takes heading west, so it measures the same trip the new segment extends. Those riders already had a reason to cross the river before the final gap closed.
Riding West on Cass
Mayor Jane Castor tied the track to the street around it. In the City's release she said, "New businesses have opened up along Cass Street and residents use the track daily to bike and scooter to work and school, exercise, and explore their neighborhoods."
One of those businesses is Urban Jungalow at 1910 W. Cass Street, a café with a vegan and gluten-free menu. Owner Justin Basil told the City, "We intentionally installed a bike rack here because of the increase in traffic we get from, whether its cyclists, scooters, or pedestrians." WFLA's October 23 report quotes Basil describing more pedestrian and cyclist visits since the track opened.
Closer to the river, two neighbors at the 1300 block of W. Cass make an easy lunch ride from downtown:
- Cousin Vinny's Sandwich Co., 1331 W. Cass St., a New York-style Italian-American sandwich shop in the former Cass Street Deli space. The Tampa Bay Times covered its first storefront in January 2025.
- Santoro's Pizzeria, 1329 W. Cass St., serving pizza, subs and pasta right next door. Both shops appeared in Tampa Magazine's December 2025 food guide.
Restaurant hours change, so check before you ride over.
Franklin and Tyler, Closer to Home
Not every trip worth taking means crossing the bridge. The downtown track runs right past the blocks with this fall's newest openings.
Rreal Tacos opened on October 13 at 808 N. Franklin St., in the former Haiku space. The taqueria comes from Atlanta-based founders Damian Otero and Miguel Hernandez and makes its tortillas in-house, with margaritas and agave spirits at the bar. A little farther up Franklin, at 1202 N. Franklin St., chef Naree Boonyakiat runs Naree, an eight-seat Thai-inspired kaiseki counter alongside Ebbe. Its seasonal 14-course menu draws on Thai, Japanese and Florida ingredients.
On Tyler Street, the westbound partner in the old one-way pair, the Tampa Bay Business Journal reported La Victoria open in late October. The restaurant is at 105 W. Tyler St., and the Tampa Bay Times reported in July that co-owners Erick Meza and Gus Thieken brought in executive chef Terrell Manning.
East to Ybor and Cuscaden Park
The eastern half of the ride follows a route mapped years ago. According to WUSF's reporting and City project materials, it goes like this:
- Start anywhere on the downtown track on the south side of Cass Street.
- Ride east on Cass to Nebraska Avenue, where the downtown segment ends.
- Turn north on Nuccio Parkway into Ybor, passing the Nuccio and 7th Avenue area with Gasworx just to the south.
- Head east to N. 15th Street, then north to 17th Avenue.
- Finish on a shared-use sidewalk alongside Cuscaden Park toward 21st Avenue.
The N. 15th Street area is where the FDOT segment is still pending, so expect that short stretch to be unfinished until spring.
If You're Renting a Scooter or E-Bike
The City's shared micromobility page lists Lime and Spin as its vendors. Its rules matter on this route, because the Green Spine meets places shared vehicles aren't allowed to go.
- Shared scooters and e-bikes are not allowed on the Riverwalk or on 7th Avenue in Ybor.
- Park in designated corrals, keep the vehicle upright and leave at least four feet of sidewalk clear.
- Check the operator apps for vehicle locations and current service. The City page has been up for several years.
The Riverwalk rule is the one most likely to catch a downtown rider. A rental that rides legally on Cass can't follow you onto the waterfront path.
Next on the List: The Riverwalk Along UT
The City says the Green Spine meets the West Riverwalk extension in two places, which makes it a car-free link to the river and not just a crosstown lane. The next piece in that network is the nearly 2,000-foot section running alongside the University of Tampa campus from Plant Park to Cass Street.
In its August 12 update, the City said The Haskell Company was building the 12-foot-wide multi-use trail. Plans include brick bands that echo UT's historic buildings, about 65 new palm trees and at least five hammock stations. It was expected to open by the end of the year, weather permitting. The full West River BUILD project, roughly two miles of new West Riverwalk plus three miles of roadway improvements, is expected to finish in spring 2027.
If the UT section opens on schedule, a ride from downtown could cross the river on Cass, pick up the new trail where it meets Cass Street, and follow the water south past Plant Park. The remaining question is the opening date.
Living near a route like this changes how a building's location reads to the next buyer, and capturing that is the kind of detail The Fate Team builds into every listing we market. If you're curious how your downtown home's location shows up in its value today, request your home valuation and we'll walk you through it.
