I spend a lot of time cycling the roads and trails nearest my home here in Lakewood Ranch.  So it is always exciting when a new route opens up that provides a different route from home.  Recently, a new way out of Lakewood Ranch, into the areas north of SR64 has become available.  This may be old news to the folks that are more plugged into the cycling community here in the Ranch, but for me this new route is kind of a big deal.

So what is this new way out-of-town?  Simple, take White Eagle Boulevard.   Since I’ve lived here, White Eagle has always terminated on Malachite Drive just a bit north of Rangeland Parkway.  But recently, White Eagle extends all the way to 44th Avenue East.  The road is not yet ‘officially’ open to vehicle traffic, but the lines have all been painted(including the bike lane), and there is also a very wide multi-use path along the northbound side.

Of course, it is  possible to ride Lakewood Ranch Boulevard north.  But Lakewood Ranch tends to get very busy at times, and sometimes it is preferable to go north further east than Lakewood Ranch.  This new route offers a choice.

This, in itself, is not a gigantic change, since it has always been possible to ride up to 44th Avenue by cutting through the Central Park neighborhood.  But riding on White Eagle is a little more direct, and the pavement is nicer (at least for now).  The day will come when the sales office in Central Park closes, and the gates to that neighborhood will be closed to outside traffic,  Unless you posses the gate code, White Eagle will become the route of choice.

But the bigger news is this –  White Eagle is being extended past 44th Avenue, almost all the way to SR64.  That will be a big change, at least for me and some of the routes I ride often.  The road north of 44th Avenue is still under construction and cannot be ridden, but there is a way!

The sidewalk on the northbound side of the new road is open for about a half a mile.  The sidewalk CAN be ridden.  And just where the sidewalk comes to and end, it is possible to cross over about 100 yards of dirt, and get on the existing Pope Road.  And Pope Road can be ridden all the way to SR64!

 

Pope Road is a nice little residential street, quiet, lots of trees, farms along the way.  The road surface is not great.  If you are riding 22 MPH in a high-speed peloton, you probably don’t want to take this route.  You will need to wait until White Eagle is finished to the end.  But if you are out for a more relaxed ride, or are riding a hybrid or a cruiser bike (or even a recumbent trike!) then this route is just perfect.

Pope road continues north and east.  Several new developments are being built along the road, so it may not stay so quiet for much longer, although White Eagle will clearly carry most of the traffic from these new houses.   About a quarter of a mile south of SR64, Pope Road crosses the currently-under-construction section of White Eagle, at a new development – Eagle Trace.

 

Pope Road continues across White Eagle and exits to SR64,  just across the road from the main entrance to Grey Hawk Landing.    For me, this is a pretty big deal.  I routinely ride several routes that take me through Grey Hawk and some other neighborhoods directly north of SR64.  This lets me get to them without the need to travel along SR64 or Lakewood Ranch Boulevard.

And in just another year or two, we will be able to ride north through Grey Hawk Landing to Upper Manatee River Road,  then ride across The Manatee River on a brand new bridge to Fort Hamer.  Now THAT will be an epic change indeed!