Elevated Expressway Opens Today

The elevated portion of the crosstown expressway opened for afternoon eastbound travel on Tuesday.

Crystal L. Lauderdale/Tampa Tribune

By JULIE PACE of The Tampa Tribune

Published: Aug 29, 2006

Video: Elevated Expressway Opens

Panorama: Expressway

TAMPA - The second major phase of the elevated Lee Roy Selmon Expressway opened Tuesday with little fanfare, but a high volume of traffic.

Eastbound lanes, which take motorists from downtown Tampa to Brandon, opened at 3 p.m. Drivers can enter the elevated lanes at Meridian Avenue, and exit at Brandon Town Center Boulevard.

Two other eastbound entrances, 34th Street and U.S. 301, will open later this year.

When the reversible, elevated lanes opened for westbound travel in July, it marked the end of the project’s problematic past. Construction costs, which were originally billed at a $300 million, ballooned to $420 million in 2004, when two supports sank.

Since the July opening, about 4,000 drivers have been using the elevated lanes each day, said Maricelle Venegas, spokeswoman for the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority.

The goal, Venegas said, is to increase the daily ridership to 6,000 vehicles. Now that traffic is open in both directions, the expressway authority expects to get closer to that goal.

“There’s a percentage of people who might have stayed away that will now drive it,’’ Venegas said.

The elevated lanes are only available to drivers with a SunPass, and will cost $1.

“It cuts a whole bunch of time off,” said Hank Schneider, of Riverview.

Schneider has been using the westbound elevated lanes since it opened in July. Since then, his morning commute has dropped from about 35 minutes to 25 minutes. He planned to take the eastbound lanes home Tuesday.

“It’s great,” he said. “It’s wide open and you’re right on the horizon.”

Reporter Mari Robyn Jones contributed to this report. Reporter Julie Pace can be reached at (813) 865-1505 or jpace@tampatrib.com