A project to link Interstate 4 and and the Selmon Expressway at the eastern edge of Ybor City could create 14,000 jobs, and start three years early. The Tribune reports that this is made possible by an influx of dollars from the Federal stimulus package.
The Trib quotes Florida Department of Transportation official Donald Skelton. Skelton says the $628.3 million project will create a multi-lane, elevated, mile-long segment of road. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2010 and be completed by late 2014. The projected was expected to start in 2013, but will commence earlier due to a state plan that uses $105 million in stimulus money.
The construction is intended to relieve the congestion of 21st and 22nd streets in Ybor, who have 10,000 trucks a day travel between the Port of Tampa and I-4. Truck traffic is expected to increase from the Port because completion coincides with expansion of the Panama Canal, bringing more container traffic through the Port. Regular motorists will benefit with a new way to reach downtown or South Tampa. Traffic from Brandon on the Crosstown will have easier access to TIA and I-275.
The road will be operated by Florida's Turnpike System and will be tolled anywhere from $0.50 to $1.25.
The project includes $446.2 million in construction work, where the bulk of jobs are expected to be created. A contractor will be selected on September 16.
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