As construction continues along Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. underneath I-75, Hillsborough County is preparing to begin the bidding process for the next segment of BBD widening between Palm Springs Blvd. in Tampa Palms, south to Bearss Ave., also known as “Segment A.”
(Note-The current phase of BBD widening combines Segments B & C, with Segment D being the portion from Palms Springs Blvd. north to Pebble Creek Dr.)
With all of the land needed for the widening having been acquired, the county currently is working with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to finish all of the necessary paperwork to begin the Segment A bidding process, says Hillsborough County Public Works Dept. director John Lyons.
“We hope to have the bid out to contractors in early May and hopefully be ‘turning dirt’ by August or September (of this year),” Lyons explains.
The next segment of BBD widening will provide four lanes in each direction along the busy, 3.5-mile stretch of the roadway through Tampa Palms. Lyons says that the current estimated cost for the next segment is between $30-40 million.
He adds that the county finally has received its right-of-way certificate, which can’t be granted until all right-of-way (or land needed for construction and drainage) has been acquired. The certificate was the county’s last hurdle before being able to put out a bid for construction.
“We’re so close (to getting started),” Lyons says. “We expect a lot of interest (from contractors) when the bid goes out. This is a nice-sized project.”
Segments B & C widened the 3.5-mile portion of BBD from Palm Springs Blvd. to Pebble Creek Dr. last spring — aside from the just-more-than-a-mile stretch under I-75, which was delayed due to the widening of the interstate itself and the installation of new overpasses above BBD, which actually is a separate project funded by FDOT. An FDOT spokesperson says that, weather permitting, the widening under the interstate could be completed as early as July.
As we previously reported, Segment D, the final, 1.4-mile stretch of BBD-widening that will make BBD four lanes in each direction from Bearss Ave. to the Pasco County line, won’t be funded for construction until at least 2017. The project currently is funded for design, but the necessary additional FDOT funding to build it will not be available before 2017.
And The I-75 Widening?
As far as the ongoing widening of I-75 between the BBD exit in New Tampa and the exits for S.R.s 54 & 56 in Wesley Chapel is concerned, progress most certainly is being made. FDOT spokesman John McShaffrey says that rain and colder temperatures have caused come delays, but the widening project along the 11.4-mile stretch from Fowler Ave. to S.R. 56 still is chugging along, with paving currently being done in the median north of BBD and lanes being added along the west side, between the I-275 interchange and the S.R. 56 entrance ramp.
The 4.3-mile segment from S.R. 56 to north of S.R. 54 is nearly complete. Four, newly-paved lanes recently were opened in each direction.
McShaffrey says that the work that remains to be completed includes placing the thermoplastic pavement lines and markings on the new lanes, as well as work on traffic monitoring equipment, some sodding and general clean-up work. That stretch of the project, he says, is now on track to be completely finished by mid-April, pending any additional delays.
No comment yet, add your voice below!