If you’ve crossed the Gandy Bridge, which connects south Tampa to St. Petersburg, recently you’ve had to drive through the construction zone on the Tampa side of the bridge.
That’s the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority’s Selmon Extension project, a 1.9-mile-long toll road being constructed in the median of Gandy Boulevard.
Traffic studies estimate 35-40 percent of motorists traveling eastbound on the Gandy Bridge go directly to the Selmon Expressway. The extension will give those drivers direct access for those who choose to pay the toll.
According to THEA, widening of Gandy Boulevard is finished, and the roadway is in line with the Gandy Bridge. Prep work on the elevated extension’s foundation and barrier walls has begun. You’ll see more signs of progress in the fall.
THEA says all construction, requiring lane closures, is being completed overnight, or outside of rush-hour traffic, to avoid limit congestion.
The project’s on schedule, to be completed in the fall of 2020. The $230M price tag is being paid for with toll revenue, according to THEA.
You can stay up to date with the project, and see photos of construction, along with animated renderings of what the finished project will look like, on the project’s website.
If you have a question about road construction, ask Meredyth Censullo via her Facebook page.
