LARGO, Fla. — A busy stretch of East Bay Drive in Largo is getting some safety improvements: New, buffered bike lanes. 

It’s an area that Largo Police Department stated had 199 car crashes in 2024.

Nicholas Heyboer takes his e-bike on East Bay Drive every day to get to and from work, where he says he has to be extra careful.

“I’m always on the brakes. I have a hand on the horn as well. But I’ve witnessed more than one crash here,” Heyboer said.

With no bike lanes, he sticks to the sidewalk but says that presents other challenges.

“The sidewalk isn’t necessarily the easiest for commuting. It’s windy. It’s twisty. It’s bumpy. There’s bus stops on the way as well,” Heyboer said.

That’s why he is relieved to hear that bike lanes are coming to East Bay Drive, from Highland Avenue to just west of Belcher Road.

The City of Largo just approved plans for them to be built in each direction, with a two-foot wide concrete separator, to keep cyclists from traffic.

The buffer would be built by narrowing the medians from 19.5 feet to 15.5 feet, according to city records.

“That is music to my ears. I’d love that. That would be amazing,” Heyboer said.

The Largo Police Department reported 26 crashes involving bicyclists on that stretch of East Bay over the past three years.

That is in addition to 17 crashes involving pedestrians.

Altogether, there were 679 crashes from 2022 through 2024 – including four involving a fatality.

Heyboer hopes the bike lanes will help those numbers decrease.

“It’s going to eliminate a lot of traffic on the sidewalk. I feel like it’s definitely going to help safety, and timewise, the commute,” Heyboer said.

In addition, FDOT officials say more folks using e-bikes can help reduce congestion of traffic as well.

The new bike lanes are a joint project with the city of Largo and FDOT.  

FDOT officials say construction is tentatively set to start at the end of 2026.