West Bay Drive resurfacing in Belleair Bluffs remains on a 2027-29 construction timeline

Pinellas County’s West Bay Drive Improvements project includes Belleair Bluffs, but the work proposed inside the city is narrower than the improvements planned farther east in Largo.

The county’s project page, updated March 16, 2026, identifies Belleair Bridge in Belleair Bluffs as the western endpoint of an approximately 1.9-mile corridor that continues east to Clearwater-Largo Road in Largo. The project remains in the design phase.

Resurfacing in Belleair Bluffs

Across the project limits, Pinellas County proposes milling, resurfacing and restriping the pavement. The overall concept also includes landscaped medians and a 10-foot-wide sidewalk on the south side to improve pedestrian safety and connections between nearby residential areas, businesses and the Pinellas Trail.

But the county specifically says most of those improvements are located in Largo. Project work within Belleair Bluffs is currently limited to roadway resurfacing.

Based on the current county description, residents, workers and commuters should not expect the 10-foot sidewalk, landscaped medians or the proposed Pinellas Trail connectivity work to extend through the Belleair Bluffs segment. The county labels the engineering plans “Not Final,” so the final design could change as the project advances.

Construction is anticipated for fall 2027 through fall 2029

Pinellas County lists design from spring 2023 through early 2027 and construction from fall 2027 through fall 2029.

Those dates are an anticipated schedule, not a guaranteed construction start or completion date. The county says at least one lane of through traffic in each direction is expected to remain open at all times. Detailed traffic-control plans, lane shifts and work phasing may change as design advances.

The timing matters in a city where West Bay Drive is also part of an active commercial area. A June 9, 2026, report by Tampa Bay Beacons documented several recent or planned business openings and expansions in Belleair Bluffs, including activity at Belleair Bluffs Plaza near West Bay Drive and Indian Rocks Road.

That business activity does not establish the project’s economic effects, and the county has not said that businesses will be displaced. It does mean that future traffic and access planning will matter to businesses, customers and employees along the corridor when construction details become more specific.

What Belleair Bluffs residents should watch

The key distinction is between being included in the county project and receiving the full set of proposed corridor improvements. The current county record calls for resurfacing within Belleair Bluffs, while most pedestrian, median and trail-connection work is planned in Largo.

Residents and businesses should monitor later Pinellas County project updates as the engineering plans move toward completion. Those updates should provide more information about final phasing, traffic control and access when those details are established.

Sources

• West Bay Drive Improvements – Pinellas County
• Businesses ‘booming’ in Belleair Bluffs – Tampa Bay Beacons
• About Belleair Bluffs