PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — It's been years in the making — a direct connection between U.S. Highway 19 and Interstate 275 in Pinellas County, leading to the Howard Frankland Bridge into Hillsborough County or southward to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
The Gateway Expressway will allow drivers to avoid taking busy roads with traffic lights and possibly even shave a few minutes off their commute.
According to the Florida Department of Transportation, the new toll roads and I-275 Express Lanes are now open as of Friday afternoon.
The Gateway Expressway not only connects U.S. 19 and I-275 but also directly connects the Bayside Bridge — north of 49th Street N. — to I-275.
"So we're expecting anywhere between 10 to 15 minutes [reduced drive time] depending on what route you're taking and how long the route is," said Andrew Williams, the senior construction project manager.
FDOT set out to make those connections through two new tolled roadways — S.R. 690 and S.R. 686A. Additionally, I-275 in the area was widened to make room for express lanes. Part of this project included roadway improvements such as rebuilding and repaving certain roads in Pinellas County.
The Gateway Expressway project started in August 2017 with the construction costs estimated at $595.3 million.
Tolls on the expressway range in price from 28-86 cents.
What makes up the Gateway Expressway?
SR 690: A new, four-lane tolled expressway to connect U.S. 19 to the west of I-275. The road was built in the median of 118th Avenue North. Parts of the new road are elevated over portions of 118th Avenue North, 49th Street North, 47th Street North, 43rd Street North, 34th Street North, the ramp at 31st Court North and 28th Street North.
"It's very easy to get stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. We're constantly growing, you can't really build out, sometimes you have to build up," Williams said.
SR 686A: A new, four-lane tolled expressway from the Bayside Bridge to just west of I-275. Most of the road was built in the median of Roosevelt Boulevard and Ulmerton Road. Part of the project includes an interchange at Ulmerton Road. The new road will continue south through the old Sunshine Speedway until it merges with SR 690.
Express lanes: From south of Gandy Boulevard to 4th Street North, I-275 was widened to create express toll lanes — one in each direction. The express lanes are set to be in the median next to the existing, non-tolled lanes of I-275.
"So we're opening with one [set of express lanes] this coming Friday, but in the near future, we're going to have another project that will widen it to a second express lane, and it will eventually take them all the way down to downtown St. Pete," Greg Deese, the resident engineer shared.
More roadway improvements
- Rebuilding existing Roosevelt Boulevard from the Bayside Bridge to Ulmerton Road as two, one-way surface roads. This includes a new access configuration and roads for the St. Pete-Clearwater International (PIE) Airport terminal.
- Repaving 118th Avenue North from U.S. 19 to 31st Court North
- Repairing or rebuilding sections of existing U.S. 19 and 118th Avenue North, including new ramps and bridges
- Repaving the eastbound off-ramp from SR 690 to southbound I-275
- In front of St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, a new airport access road parallel to Roosevelt Boulevard, new airport ponds, a new signal intersection at Terminal Boulevard and a permanent connection at Fairchild Drive will be built