Tampa’s long-planned West Riverwalk expansion is set to begin. (City of Tampa/Haskell)

With the fanfare of a marching band and the distinguished presence of three former mayors, Tampa’s long-planned West Riverwalk expansion is set to begin. 

The approximately $57 million project will build out the downtown waterfront promenade, adding about two miles of trail along the west bank of the Hillsborough River and filling gaps to create a 12.2-mile continuous multi-use path running along both sides of the river down to Ballast Point Park. The project also reaches neighborhoods and streets near the Riverwalk. “Complete street” improvements on Rome Avenue and Platt Street include fresh pavement and new sidewalks, crosswalks, curb extensions, beacons, and on-street parallel parking. Platt gets a one-way eastbound separated cycle track along the south side of the road. Rome will become a north-south bike route connecting with the east-west Green Spine bicycle track at Cass Street, with improvements that include new bike lanes, sections of protected two-way cycle tracks, and newly-planted trees. On the east side of the river, West Columbus Drive and the Ridgewood Park neighborhood will also get complete street improvements.  

Along the east bank of the Hillsborough, the Riverwalk has been a magnet for redevelopment and a catalyst for downtown’s revitalization. City officials expect the expansion to propel redevelopment in West Tampa, where the former site of the North Boulevard Homes public housing complex has been transformed into the mixed-use, mixed-income West River district, new apartment buildings fill several city blocks, and a Publix grocery store is now open. Just north of the West River district, the first phase of the long-planned mixed-use Rome Yard development, the affordable and workforce housing apartment building The Gallery at Rome Yards, is expected to open in December 2026. The Tampa Bay Sun USL Super League soccer club invested millions to renovate Riverfront Stadium at Blake High School to serve as its current home stadium. In 2018, Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park reopened after a $35 million reconstruction and improvement project.

Tampa celebrated the upcoming West Riverwalk exapnsion with an October 28th groundbreaking ceremony. (City of Tampa).

In light of the Riverwalk’s status as one of Tampa’s iconic places, and the expansion’s significance for the revitalization of West Tampa and the development of the city’s bike-ped network, the city’s October 28th groundbreaking ceremony for the West Riverwalk project threw in a few extra touches. The Marching Yellow Jackets from adjacent Blake High School performed to kick off the event. Former mayors Bob Martinez, Pam Iorio, and Bob Buckhorn were special guests.

“This is West Tampa’s time to shine,” Mayor Jane Castor says during her comments. “This part of the city is growing; it is on the rise. And the new Riverwalk extension is going to help supercharge the development we are seeing over here.”

Building on that theme, City Council member Guido Maniscalco notes that Salcines Park, which is currently undergoing a $1.4 million renovation, once had a mural reading “It’s time for West Tampa.”

“Well, it’s time for West Tampa,” Maniscalco says. 

West Tampa Community Redevelopment Area Citizens Advisory Committee Chair Joe Robinson says the project will connect West Tampa to downtown and East Tampa, provide a safe route to work, school, and activities, give the public access to the riverfront, and be a boost for small businesses.

The longest single stretch of the West Riverfront expansion will be a 1.5-mile multi-use trail along the seawall from Plant Park’s brick plaza to the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Complex at Rome Avenue. That section will connect Plant Park, the University of Tampa, Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park, Tampa Preparatory School, Tampa River Center, Blake High, Stewart Middle Magnet School, and the Rome Yard development.

West Riverwalk expansion map

The West Riverwalk expansion is funded by a $24 million federal BUILD grant, $15.6 million from future bonds that the city will pay off with sources other than property tax revenues, $10 million from the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), and $8 million from the Community Investment Tax. 

Construction work starts in November and is projected to be substantially complete in February 2027. Haskell, an international firm with an office in Tampa, is the design-build contractor for the project.

For more information, go to West Riverwalk