Getting around the City of Clearwater without a motorized vehicle is getting easier.

 

Two weeks ago when  traffic lines were being marked on Ash and Main Streets, bicycle lanes were also added.

 

It’s part of the city’s long-range plan to connect walking and biking trails within the city and extend them to other trails in every direction out of the city.

 

The bike lanes that were painted in July run the entire length on the west  side of Ash Street and the entire length of Main Street on the river side.

 

Clearwater City Administrator Kevin Kress says now there is a complete loop that goes along Main Street and connects at both ends to the city’s paved trail along Co. Rd. 75.

 

He said the city also originally wanted to connect uptown to downtown with trails on North Walnut Street near the new bridge.

 

“But the state won’t allow it,” he said. “So rather than spend $600,000 to slope down off the sides of the bridge, we’re better off using local streets and designating lines for the trails.”

 

At some point, he says, the city will be painting lines on some of the side streets to achieve that goal.

 

The designated lane on Ash Street also serves as the future connection point south of I-94. The city has gotten approval for a designated lane across the I-94 bridge on the west side.

 

“The state hasn’t moved the lines on the bridge yet,” says Kress. “But they said they were fine with shifting the lines.”

 

That trail would run south on Hwy. 24 to a future signalled intersection at Co. Rd. 7, then cross Hwy. 24 and run east where it would eventually connect with the Cedar South development and Eldorado Park.

 

At that point, all six of the city’s parks would be connected by trails.

 

Currently, Lions Park, Riverside Park and Sportsman’s Park have a direct connection to the paved trail. Spring Street Park is a block away from the designated lane on Main Street. Eldorado Park will have future access as mentioned before. And the Archery Park, formerly the Clearwater Wayside, is directly across Co. Rd. 75 from the paved trail.

 

“We don’t know if the county will put a crosswalk at Archery Park,” says Kress.

 

Future connections east to Monticello, south on Hwy. 24 and west to a potential extension of the Beaver Island Trail in St. Cloud will mean even more accessibility in the future.