Booker Creek Trail in St. Petersburg could spur downtown redevelopment

Cyclists ready to hit the Booker Creek Trail from Tropicana Field.(Aaron Styza / St. Pete Catalyst )A former railroad corridor cutting diagonally through downtown St. Petersburg could create new opportunities for redevelopment, and improve access to surrounding neighborhoods and businesses.Trust for Public Land announced its acquisition of the approximately 0.86-mile Booker Creek rail corridor in August, following more than two decades of efforts to preserve the former CSX property for public use. The planned trail would run between Fifth Avenue N. and First Avenue S., connecting to the Pinellas Trail and advancing the planned 420-mile Florida Gulf Coast Trail.Lindsay Cross, Florida state director for Trust for Public Land, opined on the corridor’s unusual advantages.“Most of St. Pete is set up on a grid system, and there are only certain places that move block to block,” Cross said. “Having a diagonal segment [like the Booker Creek Trail] expedites travel for some communities.”The c