Drivers in southern Hillsborough County who have been asking for traffic relief for years might now get their wish.

On Wednesday, the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) presented an updated plan to Hillsborough County commissioners to extend the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway.

The plan, originally proposed in 2023, would add express lanes from Interstate 75 in Brandon to Big Bend Road in Riverview — which is about a 12-mile corridor. The new proposal would extend the expressway all the way down to State Road 674 (Sun City Center Boulevard) in Wimauma, which would increase the express lanes to about 17 miles.

THEA says this further extension is due to rapid growth in the southern part of the county, where numerous neighborhoods and other development have taken shape in recent years.

“A little bit of what we’ve heard: hurry up and build it,” THEA Executive Director & CEO Greg Slater told county commissioners on Wednesday.

Leaders presented numbers showing increased traffic on U.S. 301 from Brandon through Riverview and Wimauma.

According to the numbers, the most crowded stretch runs from I-75 to Bloomingdale Avenue, where about 74,000 cars drive each day — 24% more than the road can comfortably accommodate.

THEA gave the traffic flow an “F” grade from north of I-75 to Big Bend Road, and a “C” for the highway from Big Bend Road to State Road 674. They say that southernmost stretch, while it has the lowest traffic volume, is also experiencing the fastest growth.

“The roadway is handling a lot more than it was designed to handle,” Slater told commissioners. “It’s going to go from an ‘F’ to a lower ‘F’ for the most part if we don’t have a solution there.”

According to THEA, express lanes could save drivers 62 minutes between the current end of the expressway and Big Bend Road during peak travel times.

Even if everything goes smoothly, drivers will be waiting at least a few more years. Developers hope to have a clearer picture of how much the new Selmon Expressway lanes would cost and how long they would take to build by 2029. From there, it would take several years to build the full 17-mile extension.

THEA plans to host more public meetings starting this fall.

You can look at the plans and submit your feedback right now at selmonstudies.com.