Treasure Island Beach Trail to Get a Facelift

The Treasure Island Beach Trail is getting a facelift.

At the Treasure Island city commission meeting this week, the city gave the go-ahead to the St. Petersburg architecture firm of Graham-Booth Landscape Architecture to upgrade the beach trail.

The part of the trail that will get a new look begins at Gulf Front Park, which is near Publix, and runs north to 119th Avenue.

The trail is a combination biking and walking trail that parallels the Gulf of Mexico and is somewhat the eastern boundary of the island's beach. The trail is more a sidewalk than a trail. Under the initial improvements, the trail at places will be 12 feet wide.

Why the upgrades on the trail? Treasure Island spokesman Jeff Jensen noted in an e-mail that the project was "one of the top recurring items mentioned by residents who took a visioning survey last November."

Jensen noted that feedback from Treasure Island citizens often cited the Clearwater Beach trail as a model for Treasure Island's.

Additional improvements to the trail, which will be 4,400 feet long, will include landscaping, signage, lighting, a new wall and a bench system. The target date for completion of the project will be late summer 2012.

City officials hope that the new beach trail will enable bicyclists and hikers to link up with current trails within St. Petersburg.

The cost of the project is estimated at $1.5 million, which the city plans to borrow, Jensen said.

The beach trail enables all citizens to be able to enjoy the beach, including those who need wheelchairs or other assistance to walk and those who may not be able to walk on the beach for stability purposes.

It allows all citizens and visitors the chance to enjoy both the beauty of the beach and the water, but also the natural foliage including sand dunes nearby and, of course, sunsets.