Mayfair in Tampa Palms

From Neighbor Mary E. Sheets Project Manager D.O.T.

Jun 05, 2006

By LAURA KINSLER The Tampa Tribune


Published: Jun 3, 2006





TAMPA - Tampa transportation officials are hoping the city will build the
New Tampa Boulevard bridge next year, but they also have a backup plan.


Public Works Director Steve Daignault said the city would seek bids this
summer for the bridge over Interstate 75 that connects Tampa Palms to West
Meadows. If the project turns out to be too expensive, the city would
combine it with the east-west toll road project and ask a private investor
to do both.


The Tampa City Council voted Thursday to turn both projects over to the
Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority in hopes that the east-west
connector will be the state's first privately built and operated toll road.
The authority plans to advertise a request for proposals for the $151
million project this month.


The 3.1-mile road would give New Tampa commuters direct access to
Interstate 275, but it would not be financially viable without the
overpass, which could add another $12 million to the cost.


Ralph Mervine, acting director of the expressway authority, said bidders
would be asked to submit proposals with and without the "ancillary roadway
improvements" - i.e. the overpass. The city would contribute $8 million
toward the construction of the bridge, but only after the private developer
spends the first $4 million.


Regardless of who builds the bridge - the city or the private developer -
construction should begin by October 1, 2007, according to the contract.


"It's our desire to go ahead and build that bridge," said Jean Dorzback,
who heads the city's transportation planning department.


Mervine said the addition of the bridge hasn't scared any prospective
bidders away from the toll road. The overpass is critical to the success of
the east-west connector. Without it, residents who live north of Interstate
75 would have to use Bruce B. Downs Boulevard to reach the toll road.


"They're trying to address the community's needs, and if building the
bridge moves the project forward, they're willing to do that," Mervine
said.


Motorists would never have to pay a toll to use the overpass, according to
the contract.


Proposals for the toll road are due in early September. The city has until
Oct. 31 to decide whether to exercise its option on the bridge.


Years ago, the council earmarked $11.6 million for the bridge, and it was
scheduled for construction this fall. But administrators shifted nearly $3
million over to another New Tampa road project: the widening of Cross Creek
Boulevard.




Mary E. Sheets
Project Manager
(813) 975-6166
mary.sheets@dot.state.fl.us