Wonderful news for anyone who drives on the southbound lanes of I-275 and just loves driving at a snails pace for miles on end. A three-year, $215 million construction project has begun on the southbound portion of Interstate 275 that stretches from the Hillsborough River to the area near Highway 60 prompting traffic woes for many daily commuters throughout the city.
This construction project could be viewed as the second half to another similar project which widened the northbound portion of I-275 from Himes Avenue to Downtown Tampa from August of 2007 to April of 2010. For the average 175,000 vehicles a day which utilize I-275 between Westshore Boulevard and Downtown Tampa, and the 86,000 of those who use the southbound lanes, this is probably not the best of news.
Preliminary work has already prompted temporary lane closures on Howard and Armenia avenues near the highway which will be followed by three years of construction on I-275 including the replacement eight bridges in the southbound lanes as well as bridges over Dale Mabry Highway, Cypress Street and Himes and Lois avenues.
Once the southbound I-275 construction is finished, there will be four lanes in either direction of the interstate as well as brand-new bridges and room left for more new lanes if needed.
