By Leah Burdick and Mary Kate Krueger
HILLSBOROUGH, Fla. — The New Howard Frankland Bridge has opened and is providing a daily route for nearly 200,000 residents and visitors, according to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).
”With I-275 as a vital corridor for radial commuters, the opening of this new bridge has been highly anticipated by the local community,” said FDOT District Seven Secretary David Gwynn in a statement.
The Howard Frankland Bridge is the largest infrastructure for transportation by FDOT District 7. The new construction system will bring a 50% increase in capacity. With an estimated cost of $865 million, it is the FDOT’s most costly construction project.
The statement from the FDOT said that the bridge will have a path for pedestrians and cyclists to commute over the water from Hillsborough to Pinellas County.
Walk Bike Tampa is a non-profit organization focused on promoting safe and connected routes for people either walking or biking throughout Tampa Bay. During the process of building the new bike route, the organization advocated for the building of a multiuse trail.
“We believe that people want a variety of objects in what transportation they want to choose. Using this multiuse could be a 40-minute bike ride, which could be faster than a car trip in a lot of cases,” said Christine Acosta, a member of Walk Bike Tampa.
“Other cities have also expanded their bike networks, and Austin, TX is often compared to Tampa, Florida, due to similar metrics in terms of growth,” stated Acosta in an interview.
While the Howard Frankland bridge has already opened, the multi-use trail will continue to be completed sometime in 2026.
In recent years, car crashes on the Howard Frankland Bridge have largely been caused by heavy congestion and traffic.
In Spring 2023, Emma Nylese, now a senior at The University of Tampa, was involved in a near-fatal accident on the bridge due to severe traffic conditions.
“It was stop-and-go traffic on the bridge, causing the person behind me to crash into the back of my car,” Nylese said in an interview. “The car accident was traumatic and frustrating/devastating to completely lose my car I paid for myself, because of someone else’s reckless mistake.”
In light of these issues, officials have framed the construction of the new Howard Frankland Bridge as a necessary step toward addressing long-term demands and safety concerns for drivers who frequently use the bridge for transportation.
“It’s very important for traffic in the area. We’re going to be adding essentially an additional lane of capacity to most of the major movements here in the interchange, which will help throughput as well as helping to reduce the congestion that can lead to crashes,” said Austin Peterson, a construction manager for FDOT.
“The new Howard Frankland bridge is an investment in the future of our region and will play a pivotal role in supporting our growing community, while ensuring that people, businesses, and goods can move efficiently and safely,” said the statement from District 7.
The new bridge will have eight lanes, including four general-use lanes in each direction, two tolled express lanes towards Saint Petersburg, and two tolled express lanes towards Tampa. Following final traffic placement, the existing northbound bridge to Tampa will be removed.
In recent years, Florida drivers have experienced the congestion of the Howard Frankland Bridge. This new span of development will help alleviate traffic congestion, making the bridge a safer transportation option for drivers.
St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch said in a statement, “With these critical enhancements, the Howard Frankland has greater capacity to relieve traffic congestion and meet the transportation needs of the Tampa Bay region.”
The demolition of the existing bridge will start in summer 2025, with an anticipated completion in 2026.
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Image courtesy of That’s So Tampa.