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Delay Likely In Building Crosstown-Interstate 4 Connector

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By RICH SHOPES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 28, 2009

TAMPA - The project connecting Interstate 4 to the Selmon Crosstown Expressway is running out of gas.

The $460 million project was set to start early next year but is being pushed back three years because of a shortfall in transportation funding.

State transportation officials in Tampa say they're trying to get federal stimulus funds to put the project back on track.

"It's the district's number one priority," said Kris Carson, a spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation's bay area office.

The funding shortfall was triggered by a two-year decline in gas tax collections.

The project has implications for the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority, which operates the crosstown.

The authority says the road will need to be widened where it winds through downtown, from 12th Street to Morgan Street, after the connector opens. It's hoping to get stimulus funds to pay for the work.

Instead of just replacing the concrete surface as originally envisioned, the authority hopes to add two more lanes to the highway to make it three lanes in each direction.

A final price hasn't been tabulated yet, but it's estimated the widening and surface replacement together would cost $150 million. The authority wants $70 million in stimulus funds to pay for the widening part.

Authority Executive Director Joe Waggoner maintains the expressway needs to be widened downtown. It will be at or over capacity within five years of the connector's opening. But the surface needs to be replaced, too, and that project can't wait much longer.

"The deck needs to be replaced soon," he said. "We can't wait five years. It's the prudent thing to do."

The 15-mile toll road handles 92,000 transactions daily.

If the widening doesn't get federal stimulus funds, Waggoner hopes at least the connector road gets money.

The mile-long connector, which is expected to take four years to complete, has been discussed by officials for more than 10 years as a way to relieve I-4 and funnel truck traffic bound for Port Tampa off Ybor City streets.

The project involves a mix of funding from three agencies. In addition to the DOT, the expressway Authority is committed to kicking in $45 million and Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, the state's toll road agency, is contributing $80 million toward the project.

Whether the project receives federal funding is anyone's guess. So far it's not included on the stimulus list, but the list is changing as officials wrestle over their funding priorities. The connector road is the top project for district 7, the DOT district that encompasses the bay area.

Kevin Thibault, assistant secretary for engineering and operations at the DOT, said the connector meets federal criteria for stimulus funds. It can be bid out to contractors within 120 days and has all the necessary environmental permits.

However dozens of other projects meet the criteria and are awaiting funds too. Altogether, the state has almost $7 billion in highway projects angling for stimulus money.

State officials estimate that Florida's share for federal aid will amount to $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion meaning many projects won't get funded and others will get partial funding.

Given that scenario, transportation officials could stretch out projects over several years.

"Having said that, we're asking our teams, our districts, to get creative," said Thibault. "If it's a $100 million project, maybe $50 million gets you started."

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

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