Long rows of traffic cones and white barricades and a procession of construction trucks and workers have appeared recently north of Pebble Creek Dr. all the way up to County Line Rd. (Segment D) in New Tampa, as the Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. widening project begins to enter its final phases.
According to Hillsborough County community relations coordinator Andrea Roshaven, all the construction you are currently seeing north of Cross Creek Blvd. is Verizon doing advance utility locations in preparation for the actual widening of BBD from four lanes to eight.
Once Verizon has completed the work, construction is expected to begin in the fall of this year. “We haven’t awarded the work, but it is funded,’’ Roshaven said.
That will be welcome news to northbound travelers who have to deal with the stacking left lanes between the McDonald’s and Walmart on the west side of BBD. The bottlenecks and congestion in this area has been caused by BBD reducing from four northbound lanes down to two in less than half a mile.
Segment D, which is a little less than a mile-and-a-half stretch, is currently estimated to cost $21.6 million, although that figure could change once a contractor has been procured.
Meanwhile, work on Segment A, by Prince Contracting, also continues in earnest, as workers widen BBD from four to eight lanes from E. Bearss Ave. to Palm Springs Blvd. in Tampa Palms.
Recent work at Amberly Dr, was done to overbuild the existing roadway to match BBD, which was two feet higher after widening. Amberly Dr. was given a gradual grade for a smoother transition onto BBD. Similar elevation work was done at the Tampa Palms Blvd. and Cypress Preserve Dr. intersections with BBD.
More cones and barriers are in place from Tampa Palms Blvd. to Palm Springs Blvd., as the area is being prepped for the widening to complete the Segment A portion, a $55.5-million project which is still not expected to be finished until the summer of 2017.
“People will continue to see intermittent lane closures,’’ Roshaven says.
So what can commuters expect in the coming months? In late March or early April, there will be a lane switch south of the bridge over Cypress Creek (just south of Amberly Dr.) in order to vacate the northbound bridge section for demolition. The lane switch will take place between Cypress Creek and Cypress Preserve Dr., using the crossovers located at Cypress Creek and south of Cypress Preserve Dr.
The two lanes of southbound traffic will shift into the new permanent southbound lanes and the two lanes of northbound traffic will shift into the existing southbound lanes.
The county will be installing message boards in advance to alert drivers to the lane switch before it happens.
Segments B and C are all but completed. While work on the segments couldn’t be finished until the I-75 widening project between Fowler Ave. and S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel was completed last spring, John McShaffery, the Florida Department of Transportation spokesperson, says that other than some final pavement corrections, electrical work, lighting and the installation of traffic counter loops — “pretty much things that aren’t noticed too much.”— the work at I-75 and BBD is finished and will be 100-percent wrapped up by May, or “right on target.”
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