$973.4 million bridge project<\/a> connecting Tampa and St. Petersburg.<\/p>\nDuring a media preview Tuesday, FDOT officials offered reporters a behind-the-scenes look at the nearly completed toll-based express lanes, which transportation leaders say are designed to improve traffic flow and reduce commute times across the bay.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far as capacity goes, yes, this is the final full capacity of the bridge at its current configuration,\u201d FDOT engineer Austin Petersen said.<\/p>\n
The project adds four express lanes \u2014 two in each direction \u2014 alongside four general-use lanes on the new southbound span of Interstate 275. FDOT says the expanded bridge configuration could significantly improve traffic throughput.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that will obviously be adding a great amount of capacity that we can push through the bridge,\u201d Petersen said.<\/p>\n
The express lanes are not reversible, but Petersen said the added lanes will still improve evacuation capabilities during hurricanes and major emergencies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the express lane opening, we will have an improvement in the throughput of the capacity of the bridge,\u201d Petersen said. \u201cWe\u2019re getting a wider bridge that will give increased capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lanes are also expected to eventually connect with additional express lane systems on both sides of the bay.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get from end to end in an express lane,\u201d Petersen said. \u201cWe do have plans in the future for connectivity on the east end of the bridge to additional express lanes.\u201d<\/p>\n
FDOT says the Tampa Bay region\u2019s rapid growth has made expanding bridge capacity increasingly important.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are moving here every day. They\u2019re here on vacation,\u201d Petersen said. \u201cSo, yes, it\u2019s a challenge that we have to try to meet to keep up with the demand.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project also includes a new 12-foot-wide pedestrian and bicycle trail linking Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.<\/p>\n
Before the lanes can officially open, crews still must complete final striping work separating the express lanes from general traffic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose are heavily weather dependent,\u201d Petersen explained. \u201cWe can\u2019t put down paint, we can\u2019t put down the adhesive if we get weather.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drivers will need a SunPass or compatible transponder to use the express lanes. FDOT says the lanes will initially be toll-free, with tolls eventually expected to start around 50 cents per trip.<\/p>\n
Some commuters told 10 Tampa Bay News they would consider paying the toll \u2014 depending on traffic conditions and how badly they need to get somewhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I have to be somewhere important, like work or anything, you know, I would just pay the toll,\u201d commuter Uniqueika Walker said.<\/p>\n
Others expressed concerns about the added cost.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just really depends upon how much traffic there\u2019s going to be on the bridge,\u201d commuter Ashley Sanchez said. \u201cI mean, stuff is really expensive here right now, so I don\u2019t think that people will be necessarily happy to pay more for it.”
Even after the express lanes open, drivers will still see ongoing lighter construction activity around the bridge through the remainder of the year as crews complete additional concrete work, roadway elements and testing of transportation systems, according to FDOT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Transportation leaders say the lanes are designed to improve traffic flow and reduce commute times across the bay.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285535,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-285534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}