Construction crews rolled into Ridgewood Park this week, dropping bollards into place and flagging out a wider sidewalk that will plug directly into Tampa’s West River BUILD project. For neighbors, it is the first clear on-the-ground sign that the long-discussed west-bank Riverwalk extension and street upgrades are finally moving from planning documents into live traffic. City officials are warning that sidewalks and travel lanes will periodically shift as each segment gets torn up and rebuilt.
On X, City of Tampa officials described Ridgewood Park as "a flurry of activity" while crews set bollards and lay out the footprint for the expanded walkway. The project website, West River BUILD, shows detailed segment maps, renderings and a companion app that tracks construction updates, detours and closure notices. According to the site, the work is set to finish the public portions of a 12.2-mile multimodal corridor and will tack on about two miles of new Riverwalk along the west bank of the Hillsborough River.
West River BUILD project👷: Ridgewood Park is a flurry of activity as crews install new bollards & map out the new, wider sidewalk. The project will transform West Tampa with better connections, more recreation & major economic opportunities.
— City of Tampa (@CityofTampa) March 5, 2026
Learn more: https://t.co/SlWtWvHjeA pic.twitter.com/y7v41zhaEP
What Is Going Into Ridgewood Park
Plans for the Ridgewood Park stretch call for wide multi-use paths, a protected bicycle boulevard marked for shared lanes, upgraded sidewalks and crosswalks, plus fresh landscaping and targeted shoreline improvements. Design-build firm Haskell is under contract to design and construct roughly five miles of the multimodal network that make up the public side of the corridor. The mix of on-street "complete street" work and new Riverwalk sections is intended to keep neighborhood access intact while also bolstering shoreline resilience.
Money, Deadlines And Detours
The design-build deal comes in at about $56.9 million, supported by a blend of local and federal dollars that include a $24 million USDOT BUILD grant and $10 million from the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency. Construction kicked off in fall 2025, and substantial completion is targeted for spring 2027, according to the City of Tampa. Because crews are working in phases, different streets and riverfront segments will cycle open and closed to traffic over the life of the project.
What It Could Mean For West Tampa
City leaders say the West River BUILD effort will finally stitch together long-standing gaps in the Riverwalk and give residents safer, low-cost ways to move between West Tampa neighborhoods and downtown. Coverage of the groundbreaking and city projections suggest the construction phase will generate several hundred short-term jobs and could help spark significant private investment across West Tampa, according to Business Observer. Supporters also frame the project as a Vision Zero tool, arguing that separated bike and pedestrian paths plus improved lighting should cut crashes and make nighttime travel less risky.
How Neighbors Can Track The Work
The project team held a pre-construction public information meeting on January 6 and continues to maintain a resource hub and mobile app through West River BUILD. There, residents can find schedule updates, public meeting slides and contact details. Questions or concerns can also be directed to the project phone line at 813-438-2627 or by emailing [email protected], including issues about driveway or business access during construction.
City staff say access to homes and businesses will stay open, with advance notice going out for temporary closures using flyers, door hangers and online alerts. In the short term, neighbors can expect some dust, shifting cones and fresh concrete as bollards go in and sidewalks get rebuilt. In the long term, officials promise a safer and more connected West Tampa, with direct walking and biking routes into downtown, and Ridgewood Park is currently the most visible preview of what that future will look like on the ground.
