For the first time since 2010 there is a funding commitment to build a dedicated bus lane connecting downtown Clearwater to Clearwater Beach, now that the state Legislature approved and the governor upheld a $1 million appropriation for an engineering study.
That study will look at the feasibility of building a transit connection as well as how much it would cost. A 2010 study estimated about $12 million, but Whit Blanton, executive director of Forward Pinellas, the Pinellas County Metropolitan…