TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Toll Road Flux Stalls Fix

New Tampa toll road among proposals on today's meeting agenda.

Tampa Tribune photo by SCOTT ISKOWITZ

Bruce B. Downs Boulevard traffic is typical of North Tampa. Possible solutions will be discussed at a meeting today.

ADVERTISEMENT

By RICH SHOPES

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 5, 2008

North Tampa's jammed roads might be the leading contender for the region's worst traffic. Thousands of commuters from northern Hillsborough and southern Pasco counties hop into their cars and trucks each morning only to get stuck in gridlock.

Several multimillion dollar road projects are on the table to deal with the problem, including widening Bruce B. Downs and Cross Creek boulevards.

All are expected to come up at a town hall-style meeting this morning organized by Mayor Pam Iorio. None, however, is expected to generate as much discussion as a proposed $155 million, 3-mile toll road that would link New Tampa Boulevard and Interstate 275.

Local officials have been trying to negotiate a deal with Plenary Group, a road developer in Canada and Australia, to build the toll road, maintain it and collect the tolls for 40 years.

As part of the deal, the city would build a bridge over Interstate 75 linking New Tampa Boulevard to Commerce Park Boulevard where the 3-mile road would start.

But an April 18 memo from Plenary threatens to delay the project and cost the city millions.

Plenary officials are seeking several revisions to the deal. Among the most contentious, the company wants to collect tolls for 60 years instead of 40 and wants the city to kick in $6 million to widen New Tampa Boulevard between Bruce B. Downs and the new bridge.

At the same time, Plenary is refusing to back off its proposed toll rate schedule, even though city officials have called it unworkable.

Plenary would charge $1.50 one-way when the road opens a few years from now and increase the tolls 25 cents a year over the next five years until they hit $2.75. Toll increases would be indexed to inflation after that, with most of the revenue going to Plenary to pay the project's debts.

"That's high," Joe Waggoner, executive director of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority, said after reviewing the memo this past week. "We were hoping there might be some flexibility there. If anything, they sound more solid about it."

City officials, meanwhile, aren't commenting, saying they need time to evaluate Plenary's request.

"We really have not had a chance to go over this and analyze this and discuss it in any way," said Steve Daignault, Tampa's administrator of Public Works and Utilities.

Although officials aren't calling the memo a deal breaker, they note Tampa has already invested millions in the oft-delayed project.

The city has kicked in $4 million for land and studies related to the work - money that Plenary is expected to reimburse - and has set aside $12 million to build the bridge. Hillsborough County would pay the remaining $4 million.

Plans for an east-west road have been under way for years. Traffic counts estimate that 60,000 vehicles, mostly from New Tampa and southern Pasco County, travel Bruce B. Downs Boulevard each day. The east-west road would shave an estimated 12 to 30 minutes off commute times.

New Study Causes Delay

Plenary and the expressway authority reached a tentative agreement last spring, and the sides, while still in negotiations, were expecting to start construction last October. The road was supposed to open in 2010.

Then in August, the Federal Highway Administration requested a new $500,000 impact study because it considered the bridge across I-75 as part of the toll road project. Previous impact studies did not include the bridge.

The city refused to pay for the study, leading to a months-long delay until Plenary in its April 18 memo said it would absorb that cost.

That's good news for the city, but now another issue is threatening the project: The developer wants Tampa to chip in to widen New Tampa Boulevard to four lanes. Specifically, it wants the reimbursement owed to Tampa, plus another $2 million due the city, diverted toward the project while Plenary contributes $6 million.

Even if the city accepts Plenary's offer, the project still could be delayed. That's because officials aren't sure whether the widening of New Tampa Boulevard will require a new, broader impact study.

Daignault declined to comment about the widening or other aspects of the memo until city officials review it. The Department of Transportation had no comment until it reviewed the memo. "We just got it," Daignault said Wednesday. "We got it when you got it."

More Discussions With Plenary

Waggoner said he expected several discussions with Plenary over the next few weeks, including over the toll rate.

"We're going to look at this ourselves and talk to the city and the DOT, and go back and forth with Plenary as necessary," he said. "We're going to do our own traffic and revenue analysis and if our numbers are different than theirs significantly, we would be having very hard discussions about what the toll rate is."

The town hall meeting is set for 10 a.m. to noon today at the New Tampa Regional Library, 10001 Cross Creek Blvd.

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at or rshopes@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7633.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT