The Florida Department of Transportation will open the new Legacy Trail overpass bridge over Clark Road at 9 a.m., July 2, so trail users can use it for the July 4 holiday weekend.

Construction of the overpasses at Clark Road and Bee Ridge Road – which opened in June – cost $13 million.

A ribbon-cutting celebration for the project is planned for July 21.

FDOT began work on the two overpasses in late November 2023.

Southbound cyclists navigate the incline of the new Legacy Trail overpass bridge at Bee Ridge Road. The overpass opened for pedestrians and cyclists on June 17, 2025. Staircases on both sides of the bridge are still under construction. The Florida Department of Transportation said the overpass at Clark Road will open on July 2.

The multimillion-dollar FDOT construction project was a substantial undertaking that required the combined support of multiple entities including Sarasota County, the Trust for Public Land, the Friends of Legacy Trail, and more over multiple years to achieve.

Roughly 650,000 people use the 18.5-mile Legacy Trail annually. For all of that stretch, the trail follows the right of way of the former Seaboard Air Line Railroad.

The Florida Department of Transportation opened Legacy Trail's Bee Ridge Road overpass, pictured here, in June The Clark Road overpass is scheduled to open July 2; in time for the Fourth of July holiday.

Overall, cyclists can travel about 30-miles between Sarasota and North Port using various roads to meet up with the 3 ½-mile paved trail known as the North Port Connector. For more information visit https://bit.ly/4n2fkLq and http://bit.ly/3ZVydFP.