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Plan For I-275, New Tampa Connector May Be Roadkill

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By LAURA KINSLER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 5, 2008

NEW TAMPA - The proposed east-west toll road linking New Tampa to Interstate 275 could be roadkill by July.

"At this point, we just keep putting money into this road and it may never become a reality," Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio said Monday. "You really have to wonder whether this is a viable project. [Florida's Turnpike Enterprise] evaluated it and said, "No, thank you.'"

The city has spent more than $6 million on studies and right of way in the hope that a private company would step in and build the 3-mile toll road.

Iorio called a transportation summit at the New Tampa Regional Library to provide an update on the toll road and about a dozen other road projects planned to relieve congestion in New Tampa and southern Pasco County. She told officials from the region that the $155 million toll road could soon be on the chopping block for good.

"Right now, this east-west road is not financially feasible," Iorio said. "We need to bring this to closure in the next 30 to 45 days."

Plenary, an Australian company that designs and builds private toll roads, was selected to partner with the city and Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority on the project. But local officials have balked at Plenary's proposed tolls – starting at $1.50 and rising to $2.75 in the sixth year. Plenary also wants to extend the lease (and tolling period) to 60 years. The original contract called for 40 years.

"It just doesn't seem like a good business deal," Iorio said, "And we owe it to the people out here to tell them if the road is going to be built."

Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Ken Hagan said the county could come up with the final $500,000 needed for additional studies, but Plenary's added conditions made the project nearly impossible to accept.

"I think the majority of New Tampa residents want the road," Hagan said. "But I'm torn as to whether we fish or cut bait. I hate to see it go down the tank like this."

Without the toll road, city officials are likely to pull the plug on a $23 million bridge over I-75 that would have linked New Tampa Boulevard to Tampa Palms. Jean Dorzback, the city's transportation director, said the bridge originally was designed as a way to connect neighborhoods and to give residents in West Meadows quick access to Tampa Palms' schools and parks without having to use Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

But Tampa Palms residents have pressured Iorio to make the bridge project contingent on the construction of the east-west road. They don't want Bruce B. Downs traffic diverted through their neighborhood, especially since their segment of Bruce B. Downs would the last to be widened to eight lanes.

"I think there's a division in New Tampa about the bridge, depending on whether you live north or south of the [I-75] interchange," said Bill Martello, president of the Heritage Isles Community Development District.

He reminded the group that after the 2004 hurricanes, many of his neighbors were virtually stranded because portions of Bruce B. Downs and Morris Bridge Road were flooded.

The news wasn't all bad for New Tampa commuters. Florida Department of Transportation District 7 Director Don Skelton told the group that construction on the "flyover" interchange at Bruce B. Downs and I-75 is two months ahead of schedule.

"At this rate, the flyover should be open by late summer," he said.

Construction on the first phase of Bruce B. Downs' widening is scheduled for early 2009. Hagan reassured Tampa Palms residents that the county would find the money for the southernmost segment.

"That project is the No. 1 priority on our unfunded road list," Hagan said. "We will get the funding for it. It just will take more time."

Reporter Laura Kinsler can be reached at (813) 865-4844 or lkinsler@tampatrib.com.

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