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But workers still have some things to do, and some of it will take awhile, DOT officials say.
By JACKIE RIPLEY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 7, 2002
TAMPA -- Relief arrives today for commuters who have spent more than a month dealing with detours and barricades on the Veterans Expressway at Independence Parkway.
The southbound bridge over Independence will reopen this morning.
But don't expect immediate results.
"We don't just pick up the barricades and move them," said Christa Deason, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Transportation's Turnpike District. "It's a permanent barrier wall" that will take about four hours to dismantle.
The wall was erected after an out-of-control gasoline tanker slammed into the Veterans Expressway on Dec. 28, slowing an already irritating commute for the estimated 40,000 drivers who use the road daily.
"People have found their own little detours" around the construction, Deason said.
"But I don't think traffic will be worse than Dec. 28 because we'll be doing it in phases," she said.
Deason said crews will reconfigure the State Road 60 exit, shift lanes back to where they used to be south of the bridge, and open one lane of the ramp from Memorial Highway.
At that point, which should be about 10 a.m., motorists trying to enter the Veterans southbound at Hillsborough Avenue will be detoured to Eisenhower Boulevard. They will enter the expressway at the reopened Memorial Highway ramp so work crews can paint new stripes on the road.
Though the expressway bridge over Independence will be open, it could be another two weeks before the westbound lanes of Independence are back to normal.
The DOT faces "a lot of asphalt repair work because there was so much damage," Deason said.
Eastbound traffic on Independence remains unaffected.
Once the Hillsborough Avenue section is reopened, the expressway will go back to collecting tolls.