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Plant City I-4 Weigh Station Closes For Security Upgrade

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By JAN HOLLINGSWORTH | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 12, 2008

PLANT CITY - If you are heading east on Interstate 4 and are dodging fewer trucks merging into traffic near Thonotosassa Road, thank Homeland Security.

The weigh station just west of the interchange is closed for a few weeks so contractors can install bullet-resistant glass, a post-Sept. 11 measure mandated for older weigh stations across the state.

Trucks that normally jockey to pull into and out of the weigh station instead can cruise right by until the modifications have been completed.

Florida Department of Transportation officials expect the project, which began this week, to be completed in three to four weeks.

That's how long it took workers to install the new glass at the westbound weigh station on the other side of the highway, DOT spokeswoman Chris Carson said. That station reopened Friday.

The bullet- and shatter-resistant glass is a safety measure intended to protect employees who staff the facilities 24/7, Carson said. Weigh station employees' duties include inspecting cargo for drugs or hazardous materials.

The two old weigh stations at Thonotosassa Road will be demolished after work is completed on new stations on I-4 near Seffner in late 2009 or early 2010, she said.

"For the protection of the workers, we can't wait two years," Carson said.

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