FDOT Opens Northbound Howard Frankland Express Lanes, Bridge Path

TAMPA BAY, FL — The Florida Department of Transportation opened the new northbound express lanes on Interstate 275 across the new Howard Frankland Bridge early Wednesday morning.

At sunrise, a new shared-use path for pedestrians and cyclists also opened along the north side of the bridge, the department said in a news release.

The new northbound express lanes run from 4th Street North in St. Petersburg to just north of the bridge in Tampa, according to FDOT.

The lanes are in the median of I-275 and are separated from the general-use lanes by barrier walls and flexible plastic poles.

Drivers traveling northbound can enter the express lanes just north of 4th Street North, continue across the bridge and merge back into the general-use lanes just north of the bridge, the agency said.

FDOT said there are currently no tolls for the express lanes during an ongoing testing phase.

Once testing is complete, tolls will be collected electronically 24 hours a day, seven days a week, using SunPass or another Florida-compatible transponder. Cash and TOLL-BY-PLATE are not accepted.

The agency said its contractor will work over the next few nights to open the southbound express lanes, weather dependent. FDOT did not provide a specific opening date for those lanes in the announcement.

The new shared-use path is 12 feet wide and barrier-separated. The nearly seven-mile path includes four shaded, sail-adorned overlooks where users can stop and view Old Tampa Bay.

Access is available daily from sunrise to sunset from connection points at the north end of 4th Street in St. Petersburg and the south end of Reo Street in Tampa.

Additional future connections from Ulmerton Road and 4th Street North in St. Petersburg, as well as Reo Street in Tampa, are being built under separate active construction projects, according to FDOT.

The bridge project has changed traffic patterns in recent years. Last year, FDOT opened the new southbound I-275 Howard Frankland Bridge to traffic.

The 1990s-built Howard Frankland Bridge, which also connected Tampa to St. Petersburg, was converted to carry northbound traffic, and the original 1960s-built bridge was removed.