Anna and I have been investigating the “waste-land” that is a product of the expressway ripping though our city. I would like to share our progress as “PART 2″ of my original post.

The mission of the projects are to provide an interactive Greenway for the health and welfare of the city of Downtown Tampa that connects the surrounding communities to the ecology.
Livability
• Community Connection
• Safety (lighting)
• Mobility
Sustainability
• bioswales
• water treatment
• multi-modal transportation
Civic Pride
• historic recognition
• event areas
• lively residential and pedestrian environment

The Urban Greenway’s combination multi-modal bike/foot/skate path and surrounding greenspaces would also work as a bioswale –filtering runoff from the Crosstown Expressway. The projects will exploit the “wastelands” under the expressway by utilizing its neglected assets of shade, greenspace, and connectivity which ultimately have the capabilities to reach the McKay Bay Preservation and Brandon to the east, and Ballast Point and the Friendship Bridge to Pinellas County westward.

As a result of our efforts in the EAST URBAN GREENWAY, we are working with the Tampa Expressway Authority to complete an application for the Federal Transit Administration’s Transit Investment for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER) Grant.  This grant will provide a minimum of $2,000,000 in funds to complete this and other Expressway Authority projects that reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This stretch of the Greenway encompasses the heart of the urban core and will act as a catalyst for similar projects along the expressway.

WEST URBAN GREENWAY has been accepted into the Tampa Greenways & Trails Master Plan initiative.  This project increases the accessibility of bike and pedestrian friendly paths into Downtown Tampa while increasing the interconnection with adjacent neighborhoods.  Its scope focuses on the Greenway’s access to the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the expressway west of the city.  It provides the opportunity for neighborhood residents and urban core to thrive from one another through recreation and patronization.