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Officials: Stimulus Funds Would Help Connect I-4 And Crosstown

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By RICH SHOPES

rshopes@tampatrib.com

Published: February 17, 2009

TAMPA - Local officials say the best use of stimulus funding in the Tampa Bay area is to build a $463 million connector road between Interstate 4 and the Selmon Crosstown Expressway.

The Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization voted 11-0 Monday to divert millions of dollars in stimulus funding toward the project in the hope of spurring economic development at the Port of Tampa.

The long-range planning organization does not know how much money it will receive from the stimulus package, but it estimates it could get $107 million based on Hillsborough County's population and other factors.

Officials in Tallahassee are tabulating how much federal funding will flow to the region. Altogether, the state expects to receive $1.3 billion in stimulus funds for highway and bridge projects.

The DOT's district office in Tampa says the connector project ranks as its top priority.
DOT officials say that if the district does not receive enough funding to pay for the connector project, it will use the money it does receive to carry it through to 2013, when state funds dedicated to the project are accessible.

Groundbreaking for the connector was expected at the end of this year, but the project was delayed until 2013 because of a decline in gas taxes, which are used to pay for road construction.

In addition to the port, the connector has implications for the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority, which operates the Selmon.

The authority was expecting that increased toll revenue from the connector could contribute toward the possible widening of the four-lane highway from 12th Street to Morgan Street in downtown Tampa.

Officials on the MPO board said motorists and businesses in Ybor City will benefit if the connector is built because it would divert trucks destined for the port off 22nd Street and State Road 60.

The biggest winner might be the port itself, provided the connector project attracts stimulus funding.

Richard Wainio, director of the Port of Tampa, called the port the region's largest economic engine.

"If the port is going to grow and develop, it has to have the connector project," he said "We move 11,000 trucks in and out of the port every year. Even with moderate growth ... we're looking at 15,000 to 18,000 trucks."

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633.

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