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I-275 widening project underway
Kailey Tracy reports.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - I-275 traffic can be a real headache at times. It's why the Florida Department of Transportation is promising relief, though, with a plan to widen the interstate and add more express lanes in Pinellas County.
"We have a lot of people that want to go a lot of places," Andrew Williams, a senior construction project manager for FDOT, said. "It's all these different areas that kind of connect together that will help get major benefits with these express lanes, just giving people the option to choose something else besides the general use lanes."
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What we know:
Crews started clearing for the widening project in August. They’ll add tolled express lanes to a seven-and-a-half mile stretch from Fourth Street North to 38th Avenue North.
Two express lanes will run from 38th Avenue North to south of Gandy Boulevard in each direction. One express lane will run in each direction, from south of Gandy to Fourth Street North, and join the ones that opened last year as part of the Gateway Expressway.
Noise barriers will also be installed.
"They don't eliminate the noise, but they do reduce the number of decibels that the area receives," John McShaffery, the community outreach for FDOT construction projects, said. "So, it makes it a lot better for people to have conversations and such in their backyard where right now, it might be very noisy for them. So, that will help out the people that live along the corridor."
Dig deeper:
The $340 million project is part of a state initiative that focuses on critical improvements to make sure the infrastructure can meet the demands of everyone on the roads now and in the future.
"The planning process goes back years, decades, actually. So, there is a master plan for the interstate system in the whole Tampa Bay region. This is one piece of that puzzle, if you will. So, we saw the need years and years ago, but you can only build the projects when it makes sense to build them and when you have the money to build. We have the money appropriated for this project through the Moving Florida Forward initiative, which was a Governor DeSantis in the 2023 legislature initiative. That advanced the construction by about eight to 10 years," McShaffrey said.
Crews are also building a pedestrian and bicyclist path along the north side of Ulmerton Road. It will connect with the pedestrian path being built along the Howard Frankland Bridge.
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"That will give people the opportunity to travel across Old Tampa Bay via the interstate system, but separately from traffic. So, it's a win for pedestrians and bicyclists that they can cross the bay south of the Courtney Campbell where they do now. They'll have this opportunity to cross in the middle of the bay and be separated from traffic," McShaffrey said.
Williams said, eventually, these express lanes will connect to the ones on the Howard Frankland and the ones that are part of the Westshore project, so drivers will be able to drive from Westshore to 38th Avenue North in express lanes.
What's next:
Projects this size take some time. Engineers expect this one to be completed in late 2030.
"There's a little bit of pain as we go through construction. That happens whether you're building a roadway or you're building a house, but we know that the end result will really be beneficial for people," McShaffrey said.
Expect lane closures that will be mostly at night, detours and reduced speed limits, but nothing that will be coming in the next few weeks, FDOT said.
FDOT is answering the public’s questions about the project on Thursday, Sept. 25, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at PSTA’s St. Pete office. It’s located at 3201 Scherer Drive in St. Pete. They also have a virtual meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 30, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The Source: This story was written with information provided by FDOT.