"We intentionally installed a bike rack here because of the increase in traffic we get from, whether its cyclists, scooters, or pedestrians," Urban Jungalow owner Justin Basil told WUSF when the station covered the end of construction on Cass Street. His café and market sits at 1910 W. Cass St., close to the west end of the route.
On Oct. 23, the City of Tampa announced that its part of the cycle track was complete after more than a decade of planning, design and construction, with one small segment near N. 15th Street still to come. The route doesn't stop downtown. It turns north through Ybor City on Nuccio Parkway and N. 15th Street, and that stretch is where Ybor's most anticipated fall opening is about to arrive. If you live anywhere along Cass Street, a Saturday ride now runs through the cigar-factory side of Ybor, a few blocks from the Seventh Avenue crowds.
The route, segment by segment
The Green Spine is a 3.5-mile, two-way protected bike route. Three-foot raised concrete dividers separate riders from car traffic. According to WUSF's completion report, it runs in four pieces:
- North Hyde Park: It starts at Howard Avenue and Cass Street, near the Armory. The newest segment runs on W. Cass between N. Howard and N. Rome avenues. Crews started it last October and finished in September.
- Downtown: It follows Cass Street east to Nebraska Avenue. Near the Cass Street bridge, the City lists the Straz Center for the Performing Arts and the Tampa Museum of Art as nearby destinations.
- Ybor City: It runs up Nuccio Parkway to E. 7th Avenue, then on to N. 15th Street, and follows 15th to E. 17th Avenue.
- East Tampa: From E. 17th to E. 21st Avenue, the route becomes a widened shared-use sidewalk beside Cuscaden Park, 2900 N. 15th St.
The City also says the track meets the West Riverwalk Extension in two places, so riders coming from the river side have more car-free ways to join it.
The usage numbers are already high. The City's Eco-Counter at N. Boulevard and Cass Street counted nearly 80,000 cyclists in 2025. As of the Oct. 23 announcement, it had logged nearly 60,000 in 2026. Construction on the Cass Street segment wrapped up in September, so only a few weeks of that 2026 count came after the final piece was finished. The City publishes the counter data if you want to see how the months since then compare. The project cost roughly $8 million. Grants covered nearly 80% of it, and the City paid the remaining $1.6 million.
Why the 15th Street end matters this fall
Before it reaches the Cuscaden Park sidewalk, the track runs along N. 15th Street, and the most significant Ybor opening of the season sits a block away.
J.C. Newman's El Reloj factory is at 2701 N. 16th St. Tampa Newsroom calls it America's last working cigar factory. Across the street, the company is restoring the Sanchez y Haya building, which Ignacio Haya and Serafin Sanchez opened in 1910 as a restaurant, hotel and boarding house for cigar workers and visitors. 83 Degrees reported in April that the building had stood vacant and boarded for decades before J.C. Newman bought it in 2020.
The building is returning to its original uses as three businesses. J.C. Newman's own pages name them:
- Elaine's, a restaurant serving American food
- Stanford's Cigar Club, a lounge
- The Inn at El Reloj, a small boutique hotel on the second floor
In April, Drew Newman told 83 Degrees the plan was to open by Thanksgiving 2026. In late September, the company held a two-day hiring event at the factory to fill 100 jobs. Tampa Newsroom reported then that the three venues would launch in about nine weeks, which also points to late November. The Elaine's page still says "Coming Soon," so check it before you plan a ride around dinner there.
You can go to the factory now. The cigar museum and public exhibits are free and don't need a reservation. Guided factory tours last 60 minutes and can be booked ahead. Visiting hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. A weekend rider can see the restored façade from the street, but anyone who wants the museum needs a weekday.
Bello Bar + Kitchen is right on the route at 1811 N. 15th St. According to the Tampa Bay Times, it held its grand opening May 1 and serves weekend brunch, cocktails and dinner. It's one of the few places where you can lock up beside the cycle track and sit down to eat without riding any farther.
Seventh Avenue is a walk from the track
There's one rule to know before you ride into Ybor. Under the City's shared micromobility program, rented e-bikes and e-scooters may not be ridden on the Tampa Riverwalk, Bayshore Boulevard or 7th Avenue. The Green Spine crosses E. 7th Avenue where Nuccio Parkway turns toward 15th Street. From that crossing, the Seventh Avenue restaurants are close enough to reach on foot.
The City's page lists Lime and Spin as the providers. That page has been around for years, so open each app to see what's actually parked near Cass Street before you count on a rental. Coast Bike Share is gone. Its operator, HOPR, says it has closed all its Tampa sites and no longer operates in Florida.
Ybor's newest Seventh Avenue restaurants are a short walk from the track:
- Tommy's Chophouse, 1622 E. Seventh Ave., officially opened July 31, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
- D'Rose Gastrobar, 2238 E. Seventh Ave., had just opened as of the same Times report.
- LARA, 1919 E. Seventh Ave., is a gastropub with global comfort food and craft cocktails. It opened in February 2025 and was past its first anniversary when 83 Degrees profiled it in March.
A November ride, west to east
The City lists the Ybor City Saturday Market at Centennial Park, 1800 E. 8th Ave., from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays in November and December. The November and December dates are Nov. 7, 14, 21 and 28 and Dec. 5, 12, 19 and 26. The park isn't on the track itself, but it sits between the route and the Seventh Avenue restaurants. A Saturday could go like this:
- Start at Urban Jungalow on W. Cass, then ride the new Howard-to-Rome segment east.
- Cross the river on Cass. The Straz Center and the Tampa Museum of Art are close by if you want a stop.
- Continue through downtown to Nebraska Avenue and up Nuccio Parkway into Ybor.
- Lock up near E. 7th Avenue and walk to the Saturday Market at Centennial Park.
- Ride back to the track, follow N. 15th Street to Bello for brunch, then look at the Sanchez y Haya façade across from El Reloj.
- Finish at Cuscaden Park on E. 21st Avenue.
Two holiday dates are on the calendar in Ybor. The Ybor Chamber lists the Ybor City Holiday Tree Lighting for Wednesday, Nov. 18, from 6 to 9 p.m. in Centro Ybor. Tampa Magazine's events calendar lists the Jingle Bell Bazaar at Ybor at Centennial Park on Dec. 13. Because the tree lighting is on a weeknight, riding there from a downtown office on Cass Street is a practical option.
What isn't finished yet
The City's portion of the Green Spine is complete. A small segment near N. 15th Street will be finished by a Florida Department of Transportation contractor, likely in the spring, after that contractor's interstate work wraps up. Expect one short section near the north end where the route isn't yet in its final form.
Larger changes near 15th Street are further out. KETTLER plans a 4,300-capacity music and entertainment venue in the Gasworx district, on North 15th Street near the Seventh Avenue corridor. Live Nation will operate it, and the opening is planned for late 2028. The district's second apartment building, The Stevedore, opened in early April.
Elaine's, Stanford's Cigar Club and The Inn at El Reloj are expected to open first, near Thanksgiving. For anyone riding from Cass Street, that puts a new restaurant and a new hotel about a block from the N. 15th Street stretch of the track.
As a Tampa-native team, we follow changes like this block by block. If you want to talk about what the Green Spine and the El Reloj restoration mean for the streets you know, Julia Wright and our team are glad to talk it through. Schedule a Consultation.
