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TAMPA, Fla. - After more than four years of construction, commuters will soon be able to drive across the new Howard Frankland Bridge.
The Florida Department of Transportation will celebrate the grand opening of the Howard Frankland Bridge with a ribbon cutting on Monday, March 24, at 10 a.m. and traffic is scheduled to switch over Monday night to Tuesday, weather permitting.
What is the Howard Frankland Bridge?
The backstory:
The Howard Frankland Bridge was built in the 1960s and is a major connector between Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties.
The new Howard Frankland Bridge
Timeline:
The $865M project was announced in 2017 and is aimed at reducing traffic congestion.
FDOT began replacing the bridge in 2020.
By the numbers:
There will be eight lanes, four general use and four express lanes, plus a separate pedestrian and bike path.
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This new bridge will become the new I-275 southbound lanes, and the current southbound bridge built in the 1990s will turn into the new northbound lanes.
What's next:
The entire project is expected to be completed in 2026. That’s when the current northbound lanes on the 1960s-era bridge will be demolished, completing one of the largest engineering feats in the area.
The Source: This story was written with information provided by the Florida Department of Transportation.
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