USF pedestrian, bike trail would be open to public

There's progress on a trail that would link USF Sarasota-Manatee with the Powell Crosley Estate.

According to the Bradenton Herald, Manatee County commissioners will review a lease agreement Tuesday that calls for the college to pay rent of $1 per year annually for 20 years. The pedestrian and bicycle trail would be open to the public.

The first phase of the trail would connect USF with New College of Florida. Additional phases could eventually connect to places such as John & Marble Ringling Museum of Art.

Construction could begin in February and would last a few months, USF's communications and marketing office said. The project will include a sidewalk and an elevated boardwalk at the college.

The Sarasota Baywalk Trail would wind past the Crosley Estate at one Seagate Drive and connect with Uplands Boulevard, extending a half-mile through USF property.